#just finished the 7th light novel....... four more to go.....

[robinmage]

#this shit is my bread and fucking butter #I'm having so much fun you have no idea #just finished the 7th light novel....... four more to go..... #so far it's been like. 5% romance. 25% medical malpractice. and 70% fantasy politics #I'm having the time of my fucking LIFE #sorry I haven't been posting mahoyome much I've spent literally all of my waking free hours this past week reading/watching #the apothecary diaries #kusuriya no hitorigoto

[thisisbookland]

My Decade in Books

I know this is a tag but I decided to just do this one on my own (Sorry if you’ve tagged me and I missed it!)

Anyway, I’m going to go year by year and list the books that best defined that year for me. I didn’t start tracking books until 2017 though, so before that is mostly going to be me guessing that I was saying the right books haha. 

2010

I remember I hated reading before sixth grade, so I didn’t really read in 2010. I do remember my teacher in 4th grade reading The Percy Jackson series to us every day in prep for the movie coming out, so I’d say that that series was important for me at that time. 

2011

I don’t remember reading any books this year honestly. I know I read part of Anne Frank’s diary though, because it was in our classroom library. Though I don’t remember why I picked it up at all and I don’t remember if I finished it. I hadn’t quite found my love of reading yet. 

2012

Of course, on my birthday in 6th grade I got my Kindle and that’s where I really began to read and I read through books like they were water somehow. (And no, I do not quite do that anymore). I’d say there were two series that majorly impacted my reading this year. Those would be all the Warrior Cat series books out at the time, and the Hunger Games. 

I found the WC series because of my Kindle actually, and I think I read them literally because there were cats on the cover and I loved (and still love) cats. I think these books took over half my life until I was heading in to highschool, and at the same time I don’t think I ever talked about them with anyone I knew at school because I was afraid of getting bullied. Go figure.

The Hunger Games series became important to me because my teacher in 6th grade read the books to us every Friday or something, and we all really enjoyed them. However some students mother was angry that the books were being read to us and we were forced to stop by our principle. My class sort of threw up a protest over it but it never went anywhere, and most of us just decided to get the books one way or another and read them ourselves. 

2013-2015

I’m honestly not quite sure what books I read during what year in this time. I know I read the Twilight series in about four days during either the later part of 6th grade or 7th grade. (Twas a bad idea). I know I started reading a lot of weird YA series with one of my aunts that I probably shouldn’t have read but nobody stopped me. (And honestly, I’d like to re-read one of those series). I know I read through The Mortal Instruments series, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter too, ect. But there aren’t many books outside of school books that stood out. I’d say this was my big slump before I started reading for fun again. (And considering I went into middle school in 2013 and then high school in 2014, it makes sense, because my homework increased and I got reading fatigue). 

2016

I’d say that the book I most remember reading was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It’s the book I remember reading that got me back into wanting to read, and I finished it in about two days. I don’t have much else to say, I reread the book a second time and I still enjoyed it well enough but I can’t say I’d read it a third time. Though it was interesting and it’s also what made me want to start reading The Iliad, which I have not finished yet haha.

2017

Now is where I started tracking books for real. I had four books I had to read during the summer before senior year of high school and boy I struggled with them. It was when I started my blog and my goodreads account! Which is great because now I can look at lists of books haha. There were quite a few books that I’d say defined that year. 

First I’d say It, because I really pushed myself to finish that damn book before the movie came out. Then I gave up and saw the movie, and then I finished the book afterwards. (Which is surprising, because usually I can’t finish a book if I’ve seen the movie recently.) I enjoyed it more for the coming of age aspect, with the kids sitting around acting like kids, than anything else honestly.

And then I’d say The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was another book that defined that year. It was a really good book but also important to show the effects of police brutality/racism and how awful it is for victims and their friends, family, and community, I don’t know if I have much else to say about the book though, it just made me angry.

Some honorable mentions I don’t feel like writing too much about - They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Ari and Dante by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

2018

This was when I read a lot more. I logged a lot of books I read for class which boosted my read count but hey, I did read them so. 

I’d say Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy was one book that was pretty important to me. It was about a girl coming to terms with her bisexuality, and well - I’m bi so I did enjoy that one haha. I read quite a few books but Ramona Blue is the one that sticks out the most for 2018. A couple others I really enjoyed were historic fiction like The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. But mostly I spent 2018 graduating high school and settling in to college, so I didn’t read as much for myself as I had wanted to. 

2019

Well.. here’s the part where I admit I spent a major part of the last year of the decade re-reading Warrior Cats. I got curious about what happened after what I last read and had a free link to read the books so, I took advantage of it. So while I did read I think almost 70 books, 60 something of them were Warrior Cats books. (They’re quite easy to get through). 

But, BESIDES WC I read some other fun novels and graphic novels! I read The Prince and the Dressmaker which a friend of mine loaned to me, and I later bought the graphic novel myself. It was a very good one that had a happy ending -- perfect for the end of the school year stress of finals. I also read Six of Crows, which I really enjoyed and I am looking forward to reading the second book, and perhaps the other series that Leigh Bardugo has written. 

For the next decade I’m looking forward to all the books I’ll find and read, and hopefully by the end of it I’ll still be reading and enjoying books!

I’m not tagging anyone, if you wanna do this just go for it!

#books #book #booklr #bookish #my decade in books #2020 #2010 to 2019 #read #reads #reader #reading #thisisbookland #thisisbooklands post

[zlucchesi-blog]

Alphabet Narrative

A: This is a perfect place to start, not just because it is the beginning of the alphabet, but because the word that represents this letter is really where I began to read consistently. The letter “A” for me stands for “ARP” or “Accelerated Reading Program.” If you don’t know, this is a program for middle schoolers that requires them to read books and take tests and the harder the book is, the more points you get for each test. I was the champ at this. If you know me, you know that I am a very competitive guy. So competing for prizes against all my other classmates for ARP points was right up by alley. I won first place every year from the 5th to 8th grade. I loved reading at that time because I had a reason to read. Honestly, I do not know if it was not for ARP if I would have even opened a book during those years.

B: The letter “B” for me stands for bad habits. I have many bad habits in my life but this one is a big one. This bad habit is not just for literacy but for my whole life, but for this paper I will be talking about it just for literacy. My bad habit is procrastination. I just never want to sit down and read a book, write a paper, or read an online article that we may have a quiz on. That stuff just does not interest me to this day. I put it off until the very last minute. Sometimes, I just do not do it all together. If we are going to have a test or quiz over it, then I will do it either the night before or sometimes the morning of. If it is just an assignment though and no grade will come from it, I just will not do it. Procrastination is a bad habit for me, but maybe with the right teacher or guide, I can one day have interest and fix it.

C: College writing. It seems like a scary thing to me. Maybe, I just do not know what to expect or what I am getting myself into. High school writing was difficult for me at times, I can not imagine if college writing can be much harder than that. I have never been a good writer. My words do not string together well, I am not very good with grammar, and my ideas seem to drift. I hope college writing is not too bad. But if it is, I have plenty of experience with tough writing times from my past four years.

D: Deadlines always just seem to get me. I always fail to remember when they usually are. I will check my laptop at least four times before I fall asleep to make sure I turned everything I was supposed to in. Yet, I will always seem to forget one thing. I hate deadlines. They make me panic, nervous, and overall just super tense. I have gotten much better at making them. I use to be horrible. Deadlines are needed though to make sure people are held accountable for things. I just wish deadlines did not apply to me.

E: Essays are not my favorite in general, but this one instance was just awful. I call this my enormous english essay. I was assigned this in the 12th grade and it was a 10 page paper that we had a month to write. It was the worst. To top it off, we had to have a topic assigned to us by our teacher rather than pick our own. I can easily say that this was the hardest assignment I have ever had to attempt to do in my life. It really put a damper on the whole senior year.

F: Forgetfulness; This is a huge thing for me. This does not mean that I forget when stuff is due or deadlines to meet (even though I do). This means that when I am writing a paper I lose my train of thought so easily. I will have a great idea in my head and be ready to put it on paper and then it's just gone. I have no idea why this happens or what causes it to but it really does not help my already mediocre writing ability. I have a great memory with names, places, people, and memories so I really can't wrap my head around how this is different. I am not a fan of writing so maybe this is it just not liking me back.

G: One of the worst things that comes with reading in my opinion is getting books. First, buying books can get expensive. That stuff adds up quick and I wish I did but I do not have all the money in the world. Secondly, it is a hassle to do it. You either have to figure out and go through websites to purchase them or if it has to be hard copies, you have to drive and go to busy stores to do it. Overall it is just not a fun thing to have to do. The worst part is that I have had to do it for the past  9 years and it is definitely not for me.

H: Huck Finn; This was one of the best books I have read in my life but also one of the hardest books I have had to read. I read it in the 7th grade, which is a little young in my opinion to read that kind of book and understand it fully. I loved the book though, it had a great storyline and played out very well. I want to read it again now that I have some more years under my belt because I think I would appreciate it more. Twain is a great author but the only hard part was understanding the english in the novel. It was hard sometimes to grasp it but I made it through. Maybe I will put in the time again soon to learn some more about Huck and Jim.

I: In my head; I can never finish my papers like I want to. This is a big thing for me. I am always overthinking, and trying to fix these little things that I find in my writing that do not really matter. These makes me take longer and spend more time on my papers than I need or want too. I wish I could just sit down and knock out a paper in 30 minutes like some people can, but it just does not work like that for me. Something in my head just makes me think about simple stuff way to much. I just need to sit alone in my room, put my phone away, turn the tv off, and try and put my mind on what I am writing.

J: Joel McGraw. “The most known name to come out of Christian Brothers.” That name probably does not mean anything to the average person but it means a whole lot to me. This was my first highschool english teacher. He was the absolute best. He is a great man and a very good english teacher. I learned much from that dude its crazy. I hate english and it is usually not one of my best courses but he made it simple for the whole class. “Get out your notebooks,” he would say. We had to accomplish a 5 question quiz everyday and then would get straight to our daily work. I can still remember everyday walking in class and him saying “Lucchesi, good morning son.” I enjoyed each class very much which is not typical for me in english. I can honestly say that Joel McGraw changed the way I saw english.

K: Reading books just is not for me. I hate it. When I tell you that I would kill to be able to never read a book again in my life, it is the truth. I just do not see the point in reading. I guess you can say that it is to learn, or expand your vocabulary, or even to gain more knowledge. I just think you can do all those things not just by reading books. Books take a long time to read, sometimes you have to purchase them, and I do not have the patience to sit down and read. Overall I am just not a fan of books. Take it as you will, but to never read again would be right down my alley.

L: I have had many memories through the years about books and reading. I have already talked about some in my past passages. This may be my favorite of them all though just because of who and what it has to deal with. I would always keep this Memphis Tiger, blue, lamp on in my room when I was about ages 5 til 9. I would keep the light on past my bedtime and lay under the covers and read books all night, or at least attempt too. My mom would come in most nights, not even say a word, and just turn the lamp off. Night after night this would occur. I mean she can’t really get mad at me, I was doing something educational. That lamp brings back those memories of those long nights and I can look back and smile.

M: Magic Tree House; These were my favorite books when I was a little kid. I would stay up all night reading these books, read them during school, and go to the library to read them all the time as well. My mom would always take me up to the library right by my house and sit up there for hours while I read those books. I could knock out 2 or 3 in one sitting if I wanted too. All I remember from the books now is that it was some kids that would always go back in time and go on adventures with each other. I loved those books. If I had not read those books when I was little, I don’t know if I would have gotten into reading as much as I did.

N: Motivation is always something that is needed for me, especially when it came to reading and writing. This is not something new. I have never been able to sit down and just write and write. Usually the motivation that I have to do stuff like that is when they are due soon. That makes me rush and sit down and do what I have to do in order to make the grade. It is not the best way to go about things but it gets the job done. To this day I still have found not even one thing to make me want to write when I do not have to. I wish it was different but until then I guess I will just keep pushing the issue.

O- “Open Blanks.” I always need a lot of time to write. Like I said before, I always take a lot of time when I have a paper because my thoughts do not come out how I want. I always will type a little bit and then have a ton of open space and blanks where I do not know where to put stuff down. I hate this quality I have. It is like I have thoughts and want to express them in my paper and the next thing I know, I can not remember what I want to say. Eventually, I will figure something to write in these blanks, but it is never as good as I want it to be or starts out to be.

P: Poor writing has always been one of my strong suits. By strong suits, I mean I have always been a bad writer. I always get my work done when it is due but the writing sometimes is not always the best it should be. It is usually not very good when I am in a rush and pushing myself to make a deadline. Sometimes my writing is good though. If it is a topic that I am interested in and want to take the time to do something like that, then I will put effort into it. I really do need to change this way I go about writing though so that I can better myself.

Q: Quiet times; I need my peace and quiet for sure. Whether it is for writing or reading, or just when I am in a mood and having a bad day. Some days I just need to go in my room, lock the door, turn the lights off, and just lay there. Sometimes I am thinking about something and sometimes I am just laying there clueless. I love it though. If I am stressed over homework or need some time to get away from the world, I will do this. I have done it more times over papers that I have needed to write but I am too stressed to do so. The outcome is always the same though. Once I get my time in my room and my peace and quiet, I am sure to be better in the way I go about getting done what needs to get done.

R: Clifford the Big Red Dog was a staple in my childhood life. My mom started me out reading those books at a pretty young age. I loved them. Those were the first children's books I think that I read on my very own. My mom would sit with me in my room before I went to bed and just watch me. She would watch me read and read and I remember just looking up and seeing her smile so big at me. I loved those nights. I would beg her when it was time for bed to let me read one of those books. She would always say yes. I can honestly say Clifford the Dog made the childhood nights much better being able to read it with my mom.

S: Like I said before taking my time is a big thing for me in writing, but saving my progress is right up there with it. I have said how I can not focus for such long periods of time and just sit at a desk and write or type out a paper with ease. I have to do it in little intervals throughout a whole week or something. I am constantly having to save my drafts, take long breaks, and then I will eventually get back to writing. I do feel like the way I go about this does affect my writing in a better way. It gives me more time to think about what I want to say rather than just putting down random stuff on paper. Without saving my progress in my writing my thoughts and words would be all over the place.

T: Authors come and go with me. I would like some and want to just keep on reading their work all the time or I will have somewhere I just can not stand to read. One of them without a doubt is Mark Twain. Mark Twain is at the bottom of my list of authors to read. I just do not understand the way he writes in his novels. The language and vocabulary just do not sink right in my head when I am trying to read them. I have read two books by Twain and while they are good books because of the storylines, I can never appreciate them as much because of the way I read how Twain writes. Twain is one of the best authors of all time on many people's lists, but you will not find him very high on mine.

U: Ugly; Reading and Writing seemed to fit this adjective perfectly in my eyes. Something that just does not appeal to my eyes well and shows off no beauty whatsoever. Maybe I am biased but I just do not see the beauty that other people see in this literacy items. I have no fun doing them, they do not make me happy, and I would much rather do many other things than do them. This is what ugly usually means to me. I apologize to the people that do think literature and all that has so much beauty and awe. But this is my paper, I can write what I want, and say what I want to say. So I am going to say, yes, literature is ugly to me.

V: Visits to the library were always taken with my mom. They were fun do not get me wrong, but I would have rather gone to the playground or something. I guess because she reads so much that she thought maybe I would get into it. Wrong. Usually it would end up with her yelling at me for running around or messing around in the library and us leaving mad at each other. Books just were not my thing. I did not like being quiet and have to whisper somewhere. I was not like that. I liked running around and having fun and being loud. So the whole library scene and atmosphere was not my thing.

W: Wonder; Why do people read and write. I get it makes you smarter and you increase your knowledge and all that but I just do not get it. It seems like a waste of time to me. To sit in a room, open a book, read it for hours, and then that is it. You could be doing something so much more productive than that. Like working, helping someone else, or making yourself a better person. But instead you are wasting your time. All that comes from sitting in that room and reading that book is satisfaction. You get to figure out what happens at the end of the book and to judge whether you like that or not. Nothing else comes from reading a book by yourself. I just do not get it.

X: Big Red X’s; Throughout middle school and high school this was all that I seemed to see on my papers. They stood out so much to me. It was just telling me how I messed up, failed, was not good enough. But like I say time and time again throughout this narrative, reading and writing is just not my thing. These grades were just given so the teachers had their satisfaction of thinking that they had done their jobs. Which in reality, they had not done their job. Their job is to better each student in ways that relate to each one individually. These big red x’s on everyone’s papers just told us all that we failed. It was not the way to teach.

Y: Yes; Finally I was given a positive thing in my career of writing. My sophomore year I won an essay contest for my spanish essay that I had written. Each person in my honors spanish 3 class had to write an essay and submit it. Each essay would then go to an office in the country somewhere and be read by the judges. I was given a bronze prize for my essay and I was very happy about it. Spanish had always been very easy to me and I had a better understanding of it than most students but I never would have thought I would win an essay for it. I was just content and proud of myself that I had finally accomplished something good in the field of literature.

Z: Zachary Joseph Lucchesi; This is me. This is my narrative; I get that some of the stuff I said you will not agree with. Well good because I like to stir things up every now and then. But in all seriousness, I am just not a big literature guy. I do it when I have to and I barely make an effort while doing so. I liked this project though. My teacher did a good job by making us do this. It does feel kind of nice to put my thoughts on paper sometimes. Maybe one day I will never have to write a single paper again. One can only dream though. This is where it ends though. So hopefully this is 100 words but I will just add a few more to make sure, (I love english class very much and I hope this gets me to 100 words). See ya later.

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 10/6/21

SEAN: October! Time for scary manga!

ASH: Ooooooo!

MICHELLE: Scary manga and super creeps?

SEAN: Airship has, in print, Monster Musume The Novel – Monster Girls on the Job!, a spinoff of the popular monster girl manga series.

We also get an early digital release for Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 3.

Dark Horse has the 7th Gantz omnibus.

Denpa gives us a 4th volume of Pleasure & Corruption.

Ghost Ship debuts Do You Like Big Girls? (Ookii Onnanoko wa Daisuki Desu ka?), a series that runs in Takeshobo’s Kissca, and combines ‘volleyball manga’ and ‘borderline porn’… well, OK, the porn is like 5/6 of it, the volleyball 1/6. But at least it’s all consensual, that’s a plus.

ASH: That is a plus!

SEAN: Also from Ghost Ship is SUPER HXEROS 4. This actually jumped from Seven Seas’ main label to Ghost Ship before the last volume, so presumably the sexual content also bumped up.

ASH: Sometimes you don’t know where a series is going to go until it goes there.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has lots of stuff, including 3 titles that should have been on last week’s list, apologies, the month change confused me. J-Novel Pulp’s John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 4, The Magician Who Rose From Failure 3, and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 2.

As for actual next week stuff, for manga there’s Der Werwolf 3 and Marginal Operation 9.

For light novels, we get Are You Okay With a Slightly Older Girlfriend? 5, Cooking with Wild Game 14, Holmes of Kyoto 6, In Another World with My Smartphone 23, Infinite Dendrogram 15, Monster Tamer 6, and She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends! 2.

Kodansha has print manga for us. There’s Boys Run the Riot 3, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 10, Orient 5, Rent-a-Girlfriend 9, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime 17, and Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku 5.

ASH: Boys Run the Riot has been great so far. I’m really looking forward to reading more of Wotakoi, too; it seems like it’s been awhile.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Wotakoi!

ANNA: Already so behind on Boys Run the Riot.

SEAN: Kodansha’s digital debut is Love After World Domination (Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de), a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about a hero who falls in love with a villainess. I think this is getting an anime.

Also out digitally: Chihayafuru 28, GTO: Paradise Lost 15, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 3, My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought 9, My Sweet Girl 13 (the final volume), My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 6, ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 2, Saint Young Men 13, Sweet Sweet Revenge 2 (also a final volume), With the Sheikh in His Harem 6, and Ya Boy Kongming! 5.

MICHELLE: I’m most excited for Chihayafuru, of course, but I did start My Sweet Girl and liked it well enough. Probably I should attempt to finish it.

ANNA: Waves with intention to read one day at Chihayafuru.

SEAN: Seven Seas continues to push out titles after the early September lull. Lots of debuts again.

ASH: Woo! Here we go!

SEAN: DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level (Isekai Meikyuu no Saishinbu o Mezasou) is an isekai manga from Overlap’s Comic Gardo. Based on an (unlicensed) light novel, its premise is the same as any other manga with ‘isekai’ and ‘dungeon’ in the title.

Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! (Salaryman ga Isekai ni Ittara Shitennou ni Natta Hanashi) is an isekai manga from Overlap’s Comic Gardo. Not based on a light novel, it has a salaryman summoned by the demon lord to keep her minions in line. This seems like a comedy.

Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Hitomi-chan wa Hito Mishiri) is NOT an isekai manga from Comic Gardo. This runs in Akita Shoten’s Manga Cross, and seems to be their attempt to do Komi Can’t Communicate with the serial numbers filed off.

Time Stop Hero (Jikan Teishi Yuusha – Yomei 3-ka no Settei ja Sekai o Sukuu ni wa Mijika Sugiru) is an isekai manga from Kodansha’s Shonen Sirius, which seems to combine the subtleties of isekai series with the sensitive and caring aspects of the 1982 sex comedy “Zapped!” starring Scott Baio.

MICHELLE: lol.

MELINDA: I also lol’d.

SEAN: And we have ongoing series. The Ancient Magus’ Bride 15, The Demon Girl Next Door 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 12, Kageki Shojo!! 2, Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero 2, the third and final volume of Rainbow and Black, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 2.

ASH: Oh, there’s a few ongoing series here that i’m reading; I better get ready!

MICHELLE: I could go for some The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us Laughing Under the Clouds 4.

Viz gives us one debut, a Shojo Beat title from Betsuma. My Love Mix-Up! (Kieta Hatsukoi) features a new author but the artist is the one who did My Love Story!!. Guy likes girl, but she seems to like another guy. What’s more, the other guy now thinks that HE likes him. Bisexuality ahoy!

ASH: My Love Story!! is a favorite of mine, in part because of the artwork, so I’m definitely planning on giving this one a try.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

ANNA: Unsurprisingly, me too!

SEAN: Viz has a new My Hero Academia: School Briefs light novel, the 5th in the series. It seems to take place right after the My Villain Academia arc (though is about the heroes, of course).

We also get Blue Exorcist 26, Chainsaw Man 7, Jujutsu Kaisen 12, Moriarty the Patriot 5, One-Punch Man 23, Seraph of the End 22, Spy x Family 6, We Never Learn 18, and Yona of the Dawn 32.

ASH: Solid showing from Viz this coming week.

MICHELLE: No kidding!

ANNA: Yay for more Yona especially.

SEAN: Lastly, there’s Yen Press, who moved a lot of September stuff to October. Yen On’s debut is The Undead King’s Reign of Peace (Fusetsu no Fushiou no Saiseiki), the story of a girl saved by the undead king, a powerful skeleton. (See, more skeletons in light novels.) Sadly, while he wants peace for all, most everyone wants him dead.

ASH: I don’t mind the skeleton trend, honestly.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 3, Date a Live 3, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 2, The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious 7, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 5, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 12, No Game No Life Practical War Game, Strike the Blood 19, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 7, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 6, and Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir! 7.

No debuts from Yen Press, but we do get Adachi and Shimamura 2, Bungo Stray Dogs 20, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 11, I’m the Hero, but the Demon Lord’s Also Me 2, Im: Great Priest Imhotep 11 (the final volume), Love of Kill 4, Plunderer 8, Sunshine Sketch 10 (which, like Yotsuba&!, also had its last volume come out in 2018), The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions 4, and Yowamushi Pedal 18.

ASH: I’ve actually been binging Yowamushi Pedal lately to catch up to this volume.

MICHELLE: I really need to catch up, too! Maybe singing “hime, hime” will help me to do so.

ANNA: My kids are into Yowamushi Pedal so I gotta order that.

SEAN: I think the scariest thing is how big this list is.

ASH: It is pretty big.

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[bookiemonsterph]

Save The Date

Synopsis:

Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.

The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.

There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.

There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo.

Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute.

Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

Title: Save The Date Author: Morgan Matson ISBN:  148140458X (ISBN13: 9781481404587) Pages:  464 pages (Paperback) Published: May 7th 2019 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers (first published June 5th 2018) Setting: Connecticut (United States) Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Chick Lit, Humor

I’ve been looking forward to reading Save the Date for ages! And I’ve heard many great things about it. Though when I received the book in the mail, I was skeptical and truly had second thoughts about it because I just finished my bloody deadline and was high-key not in the mood for a YA contemporary but I needed to escape reality in general.

This book was amazing, 4.5 out of 5 shinning stars! Can this novel be made into a movie? Because it has to be.

Morgan Matson has blew me away with this epic contemporary universe filled to the brim with hilarious laughter, epic family drama, cute romances and all-things-FUN! Save the Date is by far my favorite work by Matson! I have not read a book that made me laughed so hard for a long time! And that’s saying something because my life is a walking joke and let’s be real because it’s quite hard to beat that. In this novel, we follow senior high schooler Charlie Grant as she attempts to survival the weekend of her older sister’s wedding. Well, you guessed it, everything that could go wrong, already has gone wrong.

The family dynamic in this one is absolutely amazing, Morgan totally nailed it! I love reading about the Grant family, from the group chats to coffee making to how everyone looks out for each other, let’s just say it’s utterly awesome. Charlie loves her family to bits and is super loyal to her siblings, and the relationships between the siblings were so realistic: they fight, hold grudges and they bicker over little things, and the realism of it is something I really appreciated. It made it impossible for me not to love the Grants.

I really enjoy reading about each of the sibling from Charlie’s perspective. The family drama was completely relatable, funny and heartwarming. And I don’t usually pick favorites, but this time I will. One of her brothers, JJ, deserves a special shoutout because I HONESTLY LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I am pretty sure I cracked up in most of the scenes that he was in. Even if you’re not fond of wedding stories, read this book for JJ. And you’ll thank me later. It’s probably illegal to giggle so much while reading a book, but oh boy thank goodness I didn’t read this in the public because I would just lose it.

Even though this book took place in short the span of 4 days over the wedding weekend, Charlie’s character was very well developed. On top of the wedding chaos, she is also deciding on which college she will be going to, and at times think about this boy she is crushing on, like real life stuff that seventeen year olds think about. It’s a wonderfully written book about accepting change and finding yourself. Change is a main theme and I think it was explored with great depth! The romance is adorable!!!!! Although this book is definitely more family-focused, I think the romance played a critical role in the novel. AND I AM TOTALLY NOT CHILL ABOUT IT!!!

The only reason that this wasn’t a full 5 stars read for me is because of some really unnecessary extra drama that just kinda annoyed me slightly… I would have been 100% satisfied with the book in general if that wasn’t a thing. But it was quite minor, and I won’t tell you what it is, so no one should stress over it. But to me, it just lessen the impact of this lovely story.

For those who have read Morgan’s The Unexpected Everything, look out for little cameos!

All in all, I really enjoyed Save the Date , it was set at the perfect pace, it was light-hearted yet balanced with some really moving and emotional moments – this novel really is a real slice of life. And most importantly, this book was absolutely hilarious, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming read that is guaranteed to crack you up!

#save the date #morgan matson

[dogsbiody7]

Every critic—or indeed reader—comes to a writer by a different trajectory. I first discovered Chester Himes in the late ’40’s or early ’50’s because his first novel, "If He Hollers Let Him Go," was on my Aunt Virginia's bookshelves in New Jersey. The title itself was faintly transgressive because it was the second line of a version of a southern child's choosing rhyme that you did not hear in Harlem: "Eany-Meany-Miny-Mo: Catch a [n-word] by his toe. If he hollers, let him go. Eany-Meany-Miney-Mo." The rhyme had survived in Harlem, where I lived the most of the year but with the word "tiger" replacing the n-word. Certainly, however, I knew the forbidden version, and because Himes book was about a young black man growing up in the American midwest—yes, I immediately read it—it was clear which one the writer had wanted to evoke in the reader's mind first. I didn't hear of Hime's again until thirteen or 14, when my family had moved from 7th Avenue in central Harlem to our four room (and two baths) apartment, 4-F, at 80 LaSalle St., in Morningside Gardens. We lived directly upstairs from another black family, Jesse and Ann Jackson (and their daughter Judy, who was my younger sister; and no relation to the politician of the same name who became famous decades later). Jesse and Ann were among my parents' friends and living so close to them, they became best friends fairly soon. Jesse was pretty important to me: he was the first published black writer of books I that were actually published. He wrote young adult novels for black children. I saw two or three, and even tried to read one, but didn't find it interesting enough to finish. The truth was, by that age, I wasn't interested in children's books. But the illustrations I thought, both color and black and white I thought were good. Talking with Jesse (who's office was the same room as my bedroom upstairs—the smallest in the apartment) I got the impression he wasn't that interested in them either. He was working on a "big, serious novel" to be called "New York Weekend," about a black man who comes from the midwest (Jesse and Ann were both from Columbus, Ohio) and stays the rest of his life, always about to go home. I never read twenty pages of it, but again I found the writing dull. It's plot, however, has a lot to do with the structure of my own novel, of a young mixed-breed Native American and has a lot of trouble leaving. Jesse was a great fount of data about other books and writers. He was the first to tell me about Collette's works (particularly "Cheri" and "The Last of Cheri" and praised the French form of the "diptych" which was what later was aiming for with Babel-17 and Empire Star), and Balzac's Lost Illusions (a book which I ended teaching), and we were both blown away by William Goldings "The Man Who Was Not With It." As well he had known a black writer in the midwest, whose first novel I read at my Aunt's, in Montclair, NJ), Chester Himes. He was not surprised I knew it. But he immediately told me that Himes's most wonderful work was an account of a prison fire he'd just escaped dying in during some seven-and-a-half years he spent time jail, called "To What Red Hell." Apparently, it had been published in Esquire (today I know, from Wiki, that was in 1930). The story I took away wat that Himes had tried to expand to material into a book but that the truth of what had happened was so awful (and damning to the prison system) that editors would not let it published. Jesse was the first person to be enthusiastic over my own writing. From work I showed him, he told my father I would likely be in print before voting (that was when it was 21), a prediction that came true, though my dad did not live to see it. Eventually other novels by Himes began to appear: "The Third Generation" which I started but didn't find the writing interesting enough to hold me. (When I tackle my own version of the theme, in Atlantis: Model 1924, in Atlantis: Three Tales, though I've never written anything with such good critical response, it has never done particularly well commercially—though like everything else of mine, it is still in print.) Himes was to go on and have some success with mystery novels, some of which even made it to film. (I saw one, but it hasn't stayed in memory.) Sadly it's a genre that put me to sleep. But the writing is far more interesting than anything else under his name I've looked at. (He wrote a two-volume autobiography, which I read the first half of number one, but—like many writers—even with seven years in jail, it just didn't seem that interesting. I attacked the Sallis biography above, in hopes of getting the story of "To What Red Hell," but skimming I can't find it. Himes's own books, many of which at one time I owned, tended to stay among the unread or the unfinished. Only yesterday, for the first time, however, I purchased his collected stories. I'm still looking forward to "To What Red Hell." I hope it lives up to Jesse's enthusiasm—everything else he recommended did. * * * The sad rule of writing is that the confused muddle of incidents and sensations that happen to us all, day by day, vivid in the experience but boring in their substance, are simply not interesting in themselves, and as we grow older and cease to be children looking to learn about the life ahead, become less and less so. And, as Pater knew, even the day to day shod passage through interiors and streets, kitchens and parks, requires elevated attention to make it any more interesting than sitting before an eighteen inch black plastic keyboard with incised white letters on 107 barely raised squares rectangles—eyes on a monitor—tapping at them for minutes or hours with the four fingers of both hands, now and then thumbing the space bar or "Enter," reaching now and then to the side for the curved plastic mouse to reposition the cursor as it moves the light right, leaving its letters behind it. via Facebook https://ift.tt/3jM4oA5

#IFTTT #Facebook

[helenamayhathaway]

Once you get this it would be cool if you posted ten facts about yourself and then passed this along to your ten favorite followers x

1. Really, truly, genuinely obsessed with mustard. I just love it so much, I want it all the time, I have mustard cravings. I once put mustard on toast and it was delicious?

2. I could literally talk about Avatar TLA for 9 hours on end. Like it’s literally perfect, it’s literally the most perfect show of all time, there’s literally nothing wrong with it except for the fact that Zutara wasn’t canon. I just, like it’s so good. It’s the best show ever, everyone should watch it, without that show I might not be a writer? I can’t even put it into words, oh my god, it’s so beautiful. Beautiful characters, beautiful music, beautiful story, beautiful character development, fuck, i love it so much oh my god

3. Anne Hathaway made me realize I was gay. There was this one weekend where I rewatched the Princess Diaries literally about six times, I just watched it over and over again, like I finished it and then started it over again, and I didn’t know why and then I was like “well fuck” because like??? Anne Hathaway??? is????? so??? pretty????????

4. I don’t have a favorite band, I have about four, and I love them all literally so much that I cannot say I love any of them more than the other. (They’re My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Young Guns, and Paramore, for those who didn’t know)

5. I’m OBSESSED with murder. I literally cannot get enough of it. Like I don’t WANT to murder, but I don’t find myself interested in almost any TV shows unless murder is involved. I just love it, like it’s the most fascinating thing to me. It started off as just a love for mysteries, I think based on how much Scooby Doo I watched as a kid, but it evolved into a fascination with murder, both fictional and real life. Like I like to learn about real murders to, and I LOVE reading about serial killers, I just love it, I love it. 

6. Talking about Scooby Doo, it’s not a “light” obsession with me. I own every single Scooby Doo movie ever made (except for Music of the Vampire, fuck that shit) AND every single episode of every single show) except Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo because fuck Scrappy Doo). I just am completely infatuated with the whole show, I think it’s the best goddamn idea ever and the fact that it’s still going is amazing to me and Be Cool Scooby Doo is actually like really good and really truly after the heart of the original series. As a kid I owned two VHS tapes of Scooby Doo and not much else because we were pretty poor, but I rewatched those over and over and over and over again and I could name every single episode that was on there, I just I really care about Scooby Doo, I know to some people it was this fun little cartoon from their childhood but for me it’s something really deeply emotional and the way in which I grew up on it I think I genuinely can say it helped shape who I am today.

7. I’m obsessed more than is entirely healthy with board games. I’m addicted to the show Table Top and have a board game night at least once a week. I cannot get enough of them, it’s my favorite activity of all time. I genuinely am considering trying to have a career in creating board games or in creating Table Top RPG’s like Dread, because it’s my favorite format of storytelling and my favorite thing to do, like I literally love board games so much. (Some of my game recommendations include The Resistance, Ticket to Ride, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Coup, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Forbidden Island, Gloom, Superfight, and The Meta Game).

8. I’ve met a shit ton of famous people. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of. I’ve met Karen Gillan, Neil Gaiman, M.T. Anderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Mara Wilson, Gerard Way, Gustav Wood, all of the band Set It Off, all of the band All Time Low, and Dan and Phil. I’ve met some less notable people as well, mainly authors, but those are some of the bigger names.

9. I wrote my first book when I was in 7th grade. It was a shitty ass self insert novel about a Mary Sue who met a boy at an open mic night and fell in love with him and they bonded over the band the Plain White T’s, and there was a school shooting and she was like ~~beautifully depressed~~ and it was just real bad guys it was real bad. The second book I wrote I completed in literally about a week, like I came up with a story and then I just wrote and I wrote and I wrote, and I barely ate that week, like I literally COULD NOT stop, and it’s about 150,000 words so like it’s a real ass novel. It’s actually got a pretty good story despite the fact that the writing isn’t so hot and I am considering trying to publish it someday once I heavily revise it. 

10. A lot of my fics are based on stories I came up with in high school. Chance is based on a story I wrote a whole one chapter of, it was a hell of a lot straighter and not good at all. When We’re Both Thirty had about five chapters and came from something like 8th or 9th grade? It was also a hell of a lot straighter and I believe the main characters were called Annie and Jake (and Jake was based on Tony from Skins cause he was just like so hawt omfg ermagherd lol). Lastly, Daylight was also somewhat based on an old story I had, I wrote down the summary of it in 9th grade but I never wrote any of it, I only ever had the summary, and I started writing it I think Freshman year of college, and then like four years later actually put it out into the world.

#septembercrypt

[bookwhit]

H E L L O all my lovelies! July is OVER. Can you believe it? I can’t. Now it’s all about getting ready for school. Shopping for clothes and school supplies and any last minute efforts to do something as a family before summer is officially over. Maybe I will get more reading done with kids in school? I can only hope!

Here is the break down of what I read this month. I am hoping to do some reviews of these and have them up here soon. As always, I will give you the book, a synopsis and then my personal opinion on if it was worth the read with either a HECK YEAH or a BIG FAT NOPE.

1. Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson  was one I was really excited about. It comes out next week. August 7th I believe, and I read the ARC. YOU GUYS. I loved it.

Here is the synopsis:

A new novel in the New York Times–bestselling Remnant Chronicles universe, in which a reformed thief and the young leader of an outlaw dynasty lock wits in a battle that may cost them their lives—and their hearts.

When the patriarch of the Ballenger empire dies, his son, Jase, becomes its new leader. Even nearby kingdoms bow to the strength of this outlaw family, who have always governed by their own rules. But a new era looms on the horizon, set in motion by a young queen, which makes her the target of the dynasty’s resentment and anger.

At the same time, Kazi, a legendary former street thief, is sent by the queen to investigate transgressions against the new settlements. When Kazi arrives in the forbidding land of the Ballengers, she learns that there is more to Jase than she thought. As unexpected events spiral out of their control, bringing them intimately together, they continue to play a cat and mouse game of false moves and motives in order to fulfill their own secret missions.

********

2. The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright was a little bit slow but after I kept thinking of all the things I liked about it. It follows a past and present story about two women and their experiences with The House on Foster Hill. It has a suspense, mystery plus a few plot twists that kept me interested in this novel. Yes. Read it.

Here is the synopsis:

Kaine Prescott is no stranger to death. When her husband died two years ago, her pleas for further investigation into his suspicious death fell on deaf ears. In desperate need of a fresh start, Kaine purchases an old house sight unseen in her grandfather’s Wisconsin hometown. But one look at the eerie, abandoned house immediately leaves her questioning her rash decision. And when the house’s dark history comes back with a vengeance, Kaine is forced to face the terrifying realization she has nowhere left to hide. A century earlier, the house on Foster Hill holds nothing but painful memories for Ivy Thorpe. When an unidentified woman is found dead on the property, Ivy is compelled to discover her identity. Ivy’s search leads her into dangerous waters and, even as she works together with a man from her past, can she unravel the mystery before any other lives–including her own–are lost?

********

3.  Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga was such a fun tween read. This is a clean read. Anyone can read it. It is a fantasy and it took me a minute to understand the magic of the Kisses but I am telling you that there is no cuter story that explains how special true love is. I thought it was an adorable, fun read full of banter, adventure and love.

Here is the synopsis:

In the war against the Forces of Darkness, the Royals are losing. Princess Ivy is determined to end this centuries-long conflict once and for all, so her new battle partner must succeed where the others failed. Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword, enhanced by Ivy’s magic Kiss, should make them an unstoppable pair—but try convincing Zach of that.

Prince Zach has spent his life preparing for battle, but he would rather be branded a heretic than use his lips as nothing more than a way to transfer magic. A kiss is a symbol of love, and love is the most powerful weapon they have—but try convincing Ivy of that.

With the fate of their world on the line, the battlefield has become a testing ground, and only one of them can be right. Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan—but try convincing their hearts of that.

********

  4. The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas has been CRAZY good. Her level of writing and depth of telling the story is absolutely incredible. There is also a book of 5 novellas called The Assassins Blade that is not pictured. I’m featuring this here because I just read Tower of Dawn and then reread Empire of Storms this month. Kingdom of Ash is the last book and will be released October 23rd and I am so excited and sad. I can not wait for the ending that will in no doubt be epic. If you haven’t read this series then you need to. I know its a lot of books but I swear they are good enough that you don’t realize how fast you will go through them.

Here is the synopsis of the first book, Throne of Glass:

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her … but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead … quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

********

5. The Siren by Kiera Cass was okay. It was a fun love story. I really liked her Selection Series but this one fell short me. I felt like I wanted there to be more. That being said, it was still fun. If you are wanting just a light, easy read then you should try this one! A fun love story. .. it just didn’t have the depth I was expecting but maybe that is because it isn’t very long.

Here is the synopsis:

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. And though she can’t talk to him, they soon forge a connection neither of them can deny…and Kahlen doesn’t want to.

Falling in love with a human breaks all the Ocean’s rules, and if the Ocean discovers Kahlen’s feelings, she’ll be forced to leave Akinli for good. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

********

6. The Roommate by Kendall Ryan got me out a little reading slump this month. Sometimes I need a quick read that I can’t put down. This one was full of sexy banter and such a cute story, I read it in one sitting!

Here is the synopsis:

The last time I saw my best friend’s younger brother, he was a geek wearing braces. But when Cannon shows up to crash in my spare room, I get a swift reality check.

Now twenty-four, he’s broad shouldered and masculine, and so sinfully sexy, I want to climb him like the jungle gyms we used to enjoy. At six-foot-something with lean muscles hiding under his T-shirt, a deep sexy voice, and full lips that pull into a smirk when he studies me, he’s pure temptation.

Fresh out of a messy breakup, he doesn’t want any entanglements. But I can resist, right?

I’m holding strong until the third night of our new arrangement when we get drunk and he confesses his biggest secret of all: he’s cursed when it comes to sex. Apparently he’s a god in bed, and women instantly fall in love with him.

I’m calling bullshit. In fact, I’m going to prove him wrong, and if I rack up a few much-needed orgasms in the process, all the better.

There’s no way I’m going to fall in love with Cannon. But once we start… I realize betting against him may have been the biggest mistake of my life.

********

7. Merciless by Willow Winters is the first of 4 books I believe. I received the first two books to read and review for a book tour and I wish I would have realized sooner that it was a 50 Shades of Grey type book. Don’t get me wrong, I love sexy, steamy romances but I don’t really love the dom/sub element. It’s not my thing and this one is about gangs in New York and how ruthless they are, honestly it made me uncomfortable. It was hard for me to read. I wouldn’t recommend it BUT… I will still leave the synopsis below.

I should’ve known she would ruin me the moment I saw her. Women like her are made to destroy men like me. I couldn’t resist her though. Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept.

But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That she would change everything. She sees through me in a way no one else ever has. Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it. I know better than to give in to temptation.

A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him. A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone. A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy… he doesn’t fall for her.

********

There you have it! What I read in July. I will hopefully be posting a new review weekly as soon as school starts up. Then you will have some real reviews instead of just my yes and no reads! Have a wonderful day friends! Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

What I read in July

[lovelyparanormalbooks]

Book Blitz: Forevermore by Cristiane Serruya (Guest Post + Teaser Image + Giveaway)

Forevermore Cristiane Serruya (Ever More, #2) Publication date: December 7th 2017 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A father desperate to save his little girl. A doctor fighting for a cure. And two broken hearts that can only be healed together.Ava Larsen is too busy finishing her pediatric oncology residency to find love… and she knows what it feels like to have a broken heart. She assures herself that kissing the gorgeous alpha stranger the night before was nothing more than a dangerous yet delicious mistake— one she won’t repeat.

Widower billionaire Aleksander Maximilian is one of the most powerful men alive, but he’s helpless to save his daughter Olivia from cancer. Doctors have assured him it would be best to enjoy her last days at home. To make Olivia’s wish to spend her last Christmas on Lake Tahoe come true, he hires the best home care team in the business. It turns out the head of the team is the breathtaking woman he shared an unexpected kiss which ignited sparks. But this is the worst time for Aleksander to have finally have passionate feelings for someone, not to mention it’s strictly forbidden to Ava to get involved with her patient’s father. Tragedy brought them together. A miracle might rip them apart. An emotional gripping love story of hope, redemption, and never giving up, Forevermore is the second book in USA Today bestselling author Cristiane Serruya’s EVER MORE Series. If you enjoy romances by Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, Sylvia Day, and Maya Banks, then you will cherish this heartwarming, steamy contemporary erotic novel. Sequel to So Much More, FOREVERMORE stands on its own, but reading in order guarantees a more enjoyable time.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

4 reasons why I LOVE to write romances! Guest post by Cristiane Serruya

Hello and thanks for hosting me. I’m so happy to be here with you and your readers today. Since 2011, I’ve been immersed in the written word—penning romance novels, to be exact. The process of crafting and getting a work through the publishing machine—especially the indie world—can be a lonely and hard path but when my new imaginary friends walk out of my romances, they’re worth all of grueling pain I submit my wrists and fingers to. Here are four reasons why I have been hooked by love stories. 1. The characters The men! Handsome or scarred, funny or brooding, overbearing or supportive. Dark-haired, blond, paled skin, tanned and everything in between! Now put them together with blondes, brunettes or red-heads; thin or curved or toned; opinionated and bold or delicate and shy! Oh, my! To make it even better, throw in a couple of kids—I love stories with smart kids! Of course, makes it even funnier if we have a few criminals in the story, too. There, I have a bunch of new friends—and enemies—for me to play with for a while. 2. I get to create stories Imagine those said characters meeting over a business meeting, as in The Complete TRUST Series; or fighting for a cure for a sick child, as in Forevermore, and the sparks flying over a heated argument or a nice gesture. And then imagine them doing it. Yeah! And some revengeful ex-partner or dark secret, which threatens their relationship. I decide who loves and hates; who lives and dies! I can totally transform a person I know in a good or a horrible character. I can even take my revenge on the ones I don’t like much and create a whole new ending for a situation gone wrong. It’s freeing! 3. The research Learning is a passion of mine. In order to create believable characters, research is necessary. For example, Tavish Uilleam MacCraig, the lead male character of Love Painted in Red, who appeared on my first release Entwined Fates, TRUST Series #1 and was supposed to be a secondary character, grew so much as a character during TRUST Series that he demanded his story to be told. As it unfolded, and from it I have already Damaged Love, which features Tavish’s best friend, Lord Richard Smith, and after comes the story of Richard’s older brother, Lord Hugh Smith. All the three of them are veterans of war—I am always in awe of those men and women who sacrifice themselves to make this world safer. We don’t have a strong military here in Brazil and I wanted them to be believable veteran dealing with PTSD, living with disabilities, having invisible scars, for the readers to feel their pains. So I interviewed many veterans online. It was an enlightening and heartbreaking experience and it helped me make Tavish and Richard come out beautifully—or so I like to think—with their physical and psychological scars and yet full of life strength and vigor. 4. The happily ever after With all the horrible things happening in the world, unnecessary killings, religious and racial strife, it’s great to be able to escape to a world where my characters have survived bad things and are still able to find a fulfilling and healing relationship with a happy ending—and don’t forget the steamy sex I got to create. But sometimes, I get out of a story emotionally tired; so tired, I need a break. It was exactly the case of Forevermore, Olivia, Alek, and Ava’s heart-wrenching and heart-warming story that I needed a break before I jump into the skin of Benedict, who is blind, and Natalya, from Evermore. Ah, what did I do during my break? I wrote a light, funny and suspenseful romance. So, pre-order already Royal Love, Last Royals Series #1. Last, I want to share some good news. Almost all my books are on KindleUnlimited, so visit Cristiane Serruya’s Amazon Page and read them for free! I love to connect with readers, so feel free to stalk me online: Facebook Author Page, Twitter, Instagram, Instagram. And follow me on BookBub, Amazon, and Goodreads. Those who want to receive my very, very sporadic emails about new releases and promotions can sign-up here: Cristiane Serruya Website and win a free romance, free cookbooks, and so much more! Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts here and helping me promote my work. Love, Cris, author

Author Bio: USA TODAY and AMAZON best-selling romance author, Cristiane Serruya lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with her six-foot-six husband, two teenage daughters, and Loki, her Shetland sheepdog. Cris is a writer, a lawyer, a reader; a woman, a mother, and a wife. Not necessarily in this order. Or in any order…

She has a Master's in Business Law and a BA in Fine Arts. In 2012, after twenty-two years of practicing law, Cris decided to give writing a go. And--amazingly--it was just the piece that was missing in the puzzle of her life. She loves to hear from readers so fell free to stalk her online and visit www.crisserruya.com to win a freebie left there only for you. Those who want to receive Cris's very sporadic emails about new releases, giveaways, and promotions can sign-up on http://bit.ly/CS-VIPlist

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#ParanormalBooks

[kelsusit]

HP Workstations

Hand built to your specifications, the Emperor 200 is the ultimate pc workstation with many exclusive features such as touch screen control center, air filtering program, light therapy, electric powered leather seat, three x 24″ LED screens and breathtaking sound. Consider about it: You can nonetheless write a novel on a typewriter, shoot photographs with film, or play music reside and record it with a DAT deck, but extremely handful of organizations can get their work done with out PCs. The case lid, card slots, optical drive bays, and the sleds for the difficult drives are all tool-much less. Ergonomic workplace chairs made with high quality design in thoughts have been proven to increase productivity by at least eight% throughout the operate day. “Yet, as a Capitalist enterprise, the primary objective of the White controlled Media – media produced by and reflecting the worldview of men and women of European descent – is to generate and keep customers of all ages. Similar to CPU and RAM, the tough drive in most laptops can be replaced with an upgrade at a later time.

That CPU upgrade also brings the kind of perks usually restricted to desktops, such as support for a whopping 64GB of memory and Thunderbolt three ports that can deal with dual 4K displays. Redesigned from the inside out: Inexpensive tower workstations for specialist functionality. The requested operation failed. Available with up to two (on most models) skilled dual-width NVIDIA® Quadro or AMD® RadeonPro graphics cards, APEXX 2 also attributes the latest Intel® Core i7 processors. Numerous men and women favor black as properly as white computer workstations. HOPCO MOBILE TOWER Pc WORKSTATION DESK has worked wonders for me and I want it would do wonders on you as well. GPU – Graphics cards are not just for gaming. If you’ve ever visited an workplace supply store then you know that office furnishings can be virtually prohibitively pricey, generating in inaccessible for some small company owners unless you want to buy the least expensive of workplace furnishings.

Further issues such as image database and personal computer network communications hardware and computer software have to be regarded as because a case folder can include a considerable number of images. The HP ZBook x2 enables designers to effortlessly develop with quad-core Intel® Core processors two, twice the memory of any other detachable Pc 3 and NVIDIA® Quadro® Graphics that provide 73 percent here. larger graphics functionality compared to the Surface Pro four. A quiet, dual-fan active cooling system is developed to dissipate heat from the powerful graphics card and processor. File server is a quite fast computer with a big amount of RAM and storage space, along with a fast network interface card. In time you will collect company due to what people mediate of your personal values.

Coordinate with your existing furnishings such as your office chair, bookcases , shelves, coffee tables and filing cabinets to generate the ideal home office or to dress up any other space in your property. I love my Ergotron WorkFit-TL Desktop sit-stand workstation. Dual-socket tower Workstation excellent for powering via graphics or CPU intensive application workloads. Once you have certified their eligibility you can move onto the benefits of a new device with the Workstation OS, focusing on the further functionality about data protection, flexibility and functionality. Since of how inconsistent these lists can be, we’ve taken the time to execute testing to decide what hardware runs AutoCAD the ideal. With multi-directional swing monitor and keyboard holder arm.

We are a project-oriented business specializing in outfitting complete commercial workplace spaces with modern day enterprise furnishings. The Dilemma is that social institutions are instruments developed by people to serve as a power, a power over reality to handle our reality, Wilson tells us. At present, we have no sense of energy. HP Sure Commence Gen3 is obtainable on HP EliteBook, HP ZBook, and HP Z Workstation merchandise equipped with Intel® 7th generation or later processors. With Intel’s onboard graphics becoming as strong as they are these days, those seeking to do photo perform or some light video perform will locate that onboard graphics is all you need to have. Although some offices only want little, basic workstations, other individuals require stations that facilitate a wide range of different tasks – from taking calls and finishing laptop perform, via to fostering inventive minds.

64-bit workstations and servers supporting an address variety far beyond 4 GB have been obtainable considering that the early 1990s, a technology just starting to appear in the Computer desktop and server market in the mid-2000s. Blade PCs also supply higher-overall performance, dedicated 1:1 con-nectivity for Centralized Desktop Infrastructure (CDI) customers for traditional desktop use situations (graphics applications, legacy apps, apps developed in-home, mission-critical apps, and so on) not attainable with virtual desktops. On the company’s primary site, I found that Dell uses the term precision mobile workstations” and that it gives three base models: the 3000 series, the 5000 series and the 7000 series. The 2GB Nvidia Quadro 4000 graphics card gives a very good balance amongst performance and expense and delivered a solid score in our 3D SolidWorks test.

Desktop Computer performance is developing in importance as computer customers consume and otherwise use much more and far more multimedia – a blend of text, audio, images, animation and video – and other wealthy-content files in locations as diverse as business, marketing, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics and science. The evening auditor establishes guest and non guest account integrity by cross- referencing account posting with departmental supply documentation. In order to provide the greatest security, PAWs ought to always run the most up-to-date and secure operating program offered: Microsoft strongly recommends Windows 10 Enterprise, which involves a quantity of additional safety characteristics not available in other editions (in specific, Credential Guard and Device Guard ).

As you extend your PAW deployment to enable cloud administration, you require to allow access to authorized solutions even though filtering out access from the open net where attacks can far more very easily be mounted against your admins. By undertaking your greatest perform faster with turbocharged CAD and CAE applications and strong graphics. Intel® HD Graphics gives superb visual overall performance for sharper pictures, richer colour, and lifelike video and audio. Workstations usually have bigger and higher resolution monitors, and accelerated graphics. Windows 10 Pro for Workstations will also contain support for non-volatile memory modules (NVDIMM-N) with persistent memory. Our range of office furnishings involves reception tables, discussion tables, conference tables, workstations (panel and loop leg based), executive tables, director tables, workplace chairs, trying area tables and seminar chairs to pinup boards and even furniture for your cafeteria and pinup and marker boards.

The savings are patently apparent once you migrate your desktop workstation to the thin client VDI (Client Leger VDI) but some vendors include proprietary licenses along with the application and succeeding applications on the devices. Then concentrate on your perform, not your workstation, as you knowledge potent overall performance, whisper-quiet computing, and tool-significantly less access in a conveniently compact style. Whether your workstation is the corner of a dorm room or a formal operate space, there is no query that there are some fundamental pieces of equipment that you need to keep your production cost-free of complications and on track. You can debate the durability of HP’s normal laptops nevertheless much you like, but the company’s higher finish workstations pack surprisingly very good power and efficiency at an affordable cost tag.

I like it and like HP’s attempt to provide a mobile ‘real machine’ that delivers fascinating options (i.e. i7 8650U, 32 GB RAM, up to two TB, SD card slot) – cool. “From the blazing quickly functionality of DaVinci Resolve to real-time video capture with UltraStudio 4K, Mac Pro is a revolution in pro desktop style and performance,” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design and style. Optical drives are significantly less critical for consumer PCs these days, given that you can stream multimedia from the Net or download content straight to difficult drives. Users of Prysm’s meeting area and internet-access options can continue to anticipate the exact same experience they currently enjoy nowadays, or switch amongst web and app access as necessary for maximum productivity and ease of use.

If your application can not take advantage of GPU rendering, swapping the higher overall performance quad core Intel i7 for an eight core AMD Ryzen CPU is a good selection. The under are the best 5 reasons to employ shared office space for beginning new business. Make contact with your Daisy Data Displays representative for infor­mation on the newest CPU, memory, and challenging drive possibilities. The Application Licensing Service determined that the version of the offline Confirmation ID (CID) is incorrect. We offer mobile workstations or fixed workstations desktops, so regardless of whether you happen to be on the go or working with higher-end programs in the office, you can locate a computer that offers reliability, consistency, functionality and worth. Windows ten Pro and potent security, collaboration, and connectivity attributes from HP aid you power by means of your day on your HP ZBook.

The CPU features 25MB of cache, and 40 PCI-e 3. lanes, and supports DDR4-2400. • As a portion our residence workplace furnishings range we also offer a selection of storage units that can hold all the required files, folders or any other documents necessary on daily basis. In the following days, he designed his own wise card and programmed it to behave precisely like a genuine San Francisco card – the distinction was only that Grand was in a position to set the worth to whatever he wanted. With the prior generation HP Z440, Z640 and Z840 workstation, these NVMe SSDs were only accessible on PCIe add-in boards. Similarly, if you are on a budget, the HP Z840 gives the advantage of acquiring with a single processor at a reduced price tag then, adding a second matching processor at a later day.

In distinct, system noise throughout high load scenarios, which could be even louder with a single of the much more powerful Nvidia Quadro graphics cards, stands out in a damaging way. It enables for three dual-slot or 4 single-slot graphics cards. As this is not your standard workstation, the laptop comes with Windows 10 Home but can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for £99.99. Nevertheless, while this level of efficiency will be observed across new product introductions from all the main workstation vendors, what makes HP stand out from the crowd at this moment in time is its innovative strategy to chassis design and style, which appears set to make the servicing of workstations an absolute breeze. HP Remote Graphics Computer software requires Windows, Linux®, or Mac®OS X10.ten and newer operating system and network access.

For workstation class hardware (dual socket, ECC, SAS and so on) I choose Dell Precision workstations and Z series workstations. A single is virtual desktop workstation and the other is of course the opposite of it. For instance, if you want to 200 computers in a client-server model and in a peer-to-peer setup, the process is much harder in P2P set up. In terms of information recovery, client-server network model is considerably much better. Think about a circumstance wherein you are away from your workstation and you have to prepare a workplace presentation for immediate use. Desk pads not only protect your workplace desks from the everyday damage carried out to them due to continuous use, but also boost the beauty and elegance of the tables that are in use. Of particular note is the HP Z620, which is the most strong and versatile in the line, supplying fantastic efficiency for analyzing economic solutions, or rendering videos, animations and architecture.

Establishing lines of credit or credit limits depends on a lot of variables, such as credit card company floor limits, the hotel’s property limit, and the guest’s status or reputation as a potential credit danger. At Landmark Computers we supply a large variety of HP Workstations for your organization. These builds are developed to offer the most power for rendering photos and videos in programs such as Maya, Cinema 4D, Blender, Modo, and all the rest. The iDM5 is a space-saving Bluetooth-enabled desktop resolution that delivers office top quality accessibility wherever you choose to operate. Using the rise of wireless networking, it is even feasible to get computer desks in locations you would not otherwise have thought of, as extended as you have an electrical outlet handy.

We truly in no way had ‘freedom of speech’, financial self sufficiency educational development exactly where teaching and studying must take spot we do not personal our own organizations and are attacked from any imaginable angle we are the most deprived of understanding, details and at the tail-finish of those technologically disempowered individuals, that we are as a individuals, that , we have men and women decry the truth that we should not be talking South Africa, with all these social maladies and wretched situations and existence we are facing as of the writing of this Hub. Desk Warehouse are 1 of the UK and Ireland’s top suppliers of workplace furniture. To assistance two processors, E5-2600 series or E5-2600 v2 series must be chosen. Look for corner desks developed with returns, pedestals and other special features to assist maximize your space.

Nevertheless, nowadays, people considers furniture as a question which enhance the internal parts. You’ll be impressed by the workplace workstations and the way it supplies a hassle-free resolution to an otherwise time consuming knowledge. These cards are made for the expert-grade graphics operate that is used in CAD applications and are very high-priced compared to Nvidia’s present crop of Pascal GPUs. Other than the wonderful graphic card, this model has a strong Intel Core i7 6820HQ Quad-Core CPU, 32GB of ECC DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD in RAID combined with a 1TB tough drive. As with HP’s latest desktops line, the ZBook also come with new drive choices including a PCI express connected Z Turbo SSD drive and Thunderbolt two connectivity. HP ZBook x2 supports four,096 levels of stress sensitivity, and provides new tilt support that further refines the Windows ten Ink expertise.

Filed under: Tagged: workstation from KelsusIT.com – Refurbished laptops, desktop computers , servers http://bit.ly/2BpNaTD via IFTTT

#KelsusIT.com – Refurbished laptops #desktop computers #servers

[betwixt-these-pages]

Friend (With Benefits) Zone by Laura Brown on Tour June 26 – July 13, 2017

  Book Details

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Published by: Avon Impulse

Publication Date: June 27th 2017

Number of Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780062495594 (ASIN: B01EFM8NC0)

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Synopsis:

I’m ridiculously attracted to my best friend.

Today is a bad day. The worst actually. After dealing with the constant manhandling that comes with being a cocktail waitress at a dive bar and surviving a date from hell, I see an eviction notice slapped on the door of my sketchy basement apartment. Great.

When my best friend Devon shows up at my door and uses his stubborn charm (emphasis on stubborn) to get me to move in with him, I give in. We’ve had about a million sleepovers since we met in the kindergarten Deaf program, but this time it’s different because I can’t stop thinking about his hard body covering mine, every single night.

I know Devon would do anything for me, but I’m afraid what I want to happen will ruin our friendship forever. And the more time we spend together in close quarters, the harder it’ll be to resist the spark of attraction I’ve always felt. But maybe it’s possible to have the best of both worlds: keep the one relationship I can’t live without and indulge in an attraction I can’t deny.

I guess the only thing we can do is try…

Read an excerpt:

I was still staring at my notebook when a light flashed by my tiny window. Outside someone stood with a flashlight, shining it into my apartment. I didn’t need to adjust to the light to know who that someone was with the one, two, three blinking pattern.

It took five steps to stomp over to the door. Dev came in once I wedged it open. He pushed the door closed.

“You can’t have your clothes back,” I signed, even as I was grateful to see him. When Dev was around, even this place sorta felt like a home.

“I don’t want my clothes back. Not now, at least. I wanted to make sure you were OK.”

I held out my hands, showing that I was fine. Even if I did scan my coffee table and breathe in relief that the eviction letter was face down in a crumpled mess.

He studied me, searching for all my little tics that spelled I was in trouble, tics only he knew. I blanked my face; otherwise he would latch onto there being a problem. A big one. Dev shoved a hand through his hair, those wavy locks rioting into one massive sexy-as-hell bedhead. I missed the days when he was a spindly little thing, before he grew into this hunk I could never unfriendzone. He meant too much to rock the boat, and I didn’t dare risk losing him. He scratched at a day’s worth of scruff, the black stubble contrasting with his pale skin. Then he kicked off his shoes, tossed his coat on the back of a chair, and plopped down on my bed in a way that had to have a spring or two digging into his back.

He didn’t budge.

I wanted to laugh. Forget me time—neither one of us had given the other the right to be alone since we first met. Still, I couldn’t let go of our usual bickering match. “Go home.”

He folded his hands behind his head, not moving. I crossed my arms. A few seconds later he sat up, grabbed my laptop off the floor, and flipped it open. “We’ll watch a movie.”

“My laptop can’t handle Netflix. You know that.”

He closed the laptop. “Right. Forgot.” He unlocked his phone and placed it on the bed.

“Tiny viewing tonight?”

“You refused to come to my place.” Underlining meaning: we could have watched on a large flat-screen TV.

Since there was no budging him now that he had settled in, I climbed onto the bed with him. He picked up the phone so we could watch, and I settled my head on his chest.

I didn’t pay much attention to the action flick he put on. Most days I loved the intensity of those movies. Tonight, those explosions felt too close for comfort. Instead I made a mental list of my options. Had to before Dev found out. He’d want me to stay with him. And being cuddled up with him, I had to admit, had potential. More so when I placed my hand on his firm stomach and took in a deep breath of the ocean scent of his soap. Problem was, I needed to be on my own two feet. The last person to take care of me—my mother—had failed. I couldn’t trust anyone else.

Not even Dev.

***

Excerpt from Friend (With Benefits) Zone by Laura Brown. Copyright © 2017 by Laura Brown. Reproduced with permission from HarperCollins. All rights reserved.

  Author Bio:

Laura Brown lives in Massachusetts with her quirky abnormal family. Her husband’s put up with her since high school, her young son keeps her on her toes, and her three cats think they deserve more scratches. Hearing loss is a big part of who she is, from her own Hard of Hearing ears, to the characters she creates.

Visit Laura on her Website, Twitter, Facebook, & Goodreads pages!

  Visit these Tour Hosts for More on Friend (With Benefits) Zone by Laura Brown:

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Laura Brown and Harper Collins. There will be 3 winners of one (1) eBook copy of Signs of Attraction by Laura Brown. The giveaway begins on June 24 and runs through July 14 2017.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quick Reasons: believable, realistic, awesome characters; SO STEAMY I CAN’T EVEN!; mature subjects handled with sensitivity and poise; I am much more open-eyed on hearing impairments/deaf culture after this read; just enough drama and angst to keep my penguin heart cold

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hot and steamy

entertaining

devoured it

fishing for more

Huge thanks to Laura Brown, Avon Impulse, Partners in Crime Book Tours, and Edelweiss for sending me a free egalley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

  So once again, I find myself on the other side of a book I never even took the time to read a blurb for–and feeling SO very glad that I went into this read blind. I was honestly surprised with what I discovered between these covers–and what a steamy, sexy cover it is. I mean, just LOOK at him, with his brooding face and black leather jacket and… GAAAAAH. Someone, quick, find me my partner in crime and bestest panda buddy Annelise–those abs are just BEGGING her to lick them!

This romance was steamy and heart-wrenching in turn. I have always been a fan of “friends” to “lovers,” and this story BEAUTIFULLY encapsulates that journey in a dramatic, angsty, fear-for-the-outcome way that kept me enthralled and entertained. The love between Jas and Dev was believable and endearing, and I loved learning about them from not only THEIR POV…but from the other’s as well. The fact that these characters are also diverse and well-rounded only made me fall even more in love with them. Honestly, I’m going to be picking up more of Laura Brown in the very near future–I had such a great time rooting for (and shouting at) this couple. Their dynamics and antics are just… AGGGGGGH, I just want to hug them both!

  This was a super fun, light-hearted (though still painful at times!), and diverse read–and I adored every minute of it! The characters are well-rounded, the romance is believable, and the angst only helped to cement me more fully into their journey. I definitely recommend this to lovers of contemporary romance, complex growth stories, and the flight from “friends” to “lovers.” Sparks are flying, Penguins; take a seat and watch the show!

    Visit Providence Book Promotions for more great books!

Blog Tour, Excerpt, Giveaway, and Review: Friend (with Benefits) Zone Friend (With Benefits) Zone by Laura Brown on Tour June 26 - July 13, 2017 Book Details…

#all about books #all things books #blog tours #book blitz #book bloggers #book blogs #book giveaways #book reviewers #book tours #bookish #bookish bloggers #bookish blogs #bookish excerpts #bookish fun #bookish giveaways #bookish posts #bookish reviewers #bookish reviews #bookish things #books #contemporary #diverse characters #diverse reads #new adult #penguin bloggers #penguin blogs #penguin fun #penguin news #penguin posts #penguin reviewers

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 7/12/17

SEAN: There’s a pile. Let’s get down to it, boppers.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: Dark Horse starts us off with the third Blade of the Immortal omnibus.

J-Novel Club has the 2nd Bluesteel Blasphemer on tap.

They also have a debut, Infinite Dendrogram. It’s got many elements common to recent light novel series – a new VRMMO that may blur the line between reality and game – but I am assured it is quite good, so we shall see.

Kodansha is still rescuing some Del Rey stuff, with the 15th Yozakura Quartet and the 20th School Rumble.

In new digital licenses, they have the 4th Domestic Girlfriend, and the 4th Full-Time Wife Escapist. Excited for the latter.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on Full-Time Wife Escapist! I enjoyed the first couple volumes.

MICHELLE: I’m excited for volume four, as well!

SEAN: They also snuck in some new licenses too late for me to mention them last week, so these are already out. I have failed you again. Sorry. Hotaru’s Way (Hotaru no Hikari) is the most famous of the three licenses, a josei series from Kiss that’s been made into some live-action series. It’s the ever-popular “falling in love with my boss” genre.

ANNA: Yay josei!

MICHELLE: That’s not my favorite josei genre, but I’ll give it a look.

SEAN: Sneaking in a print release here, as the 5th Interview with Monster Girls ships next week.

Back to this week’s digital debuts (damn my penchant for alphabetical order), Kounodori: Dr. Stork is a long-running seinen title from Evening Magazine, involving an obstetrician/pianist. It sounds very seinen.

ASH: Huh. I had missed the pianist angle.

SEAN: Love’s Reach (Kinkyori Renai) is an older shoujo series that ran in Betsufure, and has a teacher/student romance to go along with the earlier boss/employee romance.

ANNA: OK!

SEAN: And now we’re back to next week proper, as there’s a 21st Seven Deadly Sins.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of shoujo romance Dreamin’ Sun.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed volume one a lot!

ASH: I actually just got around to reading the first volume. I rather liked the quirky cast of characters.

SEAN: And a 2nd volume of supernatural thriller Ghost Diary.

ASH: It seemed very derivative, but enjoyed the first volume more than I expected. (Except for one character’s super-annoying verbal affectation…)

SEAN: And I suppose we must mention the 3rd volume of yuri sleaze NTR – Netsuzou Trap. Now with anime adaptation.

They also finish a series next week, as The Sacred Blacksmith ends with its 10th volume.

SuBLime has a 7th volume of The World’s Greatest First Love.

And Udon rolls out a 5th volume of Persona 3.

Vertical gives us a 5th volume of Immortal Hounds (lot of Vol. 5s next week).

Viz has Vol. 63 of Case Closed.

They also have a new Legendary Edition of The Legend of Zelda, this one covering the Four Swords story.

ASH: The Legendary Edition of the series is really nice!

SEAN: Lastly, Rumiko Takahashi keeps toddling along with a 24th Rin-Ne.

Beat the heat with manga! What are you reading next week?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[lostinastory]

Is it just me or did February just fly by? For some reason my month started off really slow (reading wise) but ended up being super busy. I finished 7 books in my week-long vacation alone, which is a lot! I’m a little late with my wrap-up and tbr so some of the books on my TBR I have already read and finished, and it seems like this month will be an amazing reading month.

What I read in February

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ★★★★

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (ARC, review will be up soon!) ★★★★

SeQuence by M.L.M. Lorraine (ARC, review here) ★☆

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ★★★★

Dreadnought by April Daniels (ARC, review here) ★★★★

Serpent by Sarah Fay Olson (ARC, review here) ★★★★

The Restaurant at the End of The Universe by Douglas Adams ★★★★

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace (poetry) ★★★★

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (buddy read) ★★★★

Look at all those 4 star books! Almost all of the books I read were great! I’m thinking of maybe doing mini-reviews for the non-ARC books, if so these will be up soon.

March TBR

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Bernard (finished) ★★★★★

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (finished) ★★★★★

A List of Cages by Robin Roe (finished) ★★★★★

The Baker Street Peculiars by Roger Langridge (finished, ARC, graphic novel, not yet reviewed) ★★★★

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (finished) ★★★☆

Geekerella by Ashly Poston

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman

Fuse by Julianna Baggott

(maybe) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (buddy read)

Some other books maybe? I just don’t know yet. If I will finally buy We Are The Ants, I’ll probably read that one too. Since it’s only the 7th day of the month and I’ve already read over half the books on my montly tbr, I will probably read some more.

My vacation in 7 bullet points

I had a wonderful time in Austria, and I think you can summarise it like this:

Snowboarding horribly (I didn’t dare to go beyond the baby slope), I fell a lot and couldn’t make decent curves so I gave up after a day. Maybe next time I should take classes and not be stubborn and think I can figure it out by myself haha.

Skiing a lot. We went skiing about 4 days I think and I love skiing! I’m currently at the level that even black slopes are doable, but blue ones are the most fun (you can go super-fast and you basically have to try to avoid all the slow skiers but so much fun). We went to a glacier, which was fun and super cold (it was about 15 degrees below zero (Celsius)).

A lot of hot choco.

READING READING READING. I have been reading so much and I loved it. With barely any internet and only four tv channels to watch, there was not much distraction.

Some Gilmore Girls (my latest obsession) and this Swedish-Danish show called The Bridge (Bron/Broen). My dad had a dvd of the third season so we watched some of it. And I have to say, although I thought it was boring in the beginning, it has started to grow on me. It’s about a detective Saga (isn’t that an awesome name?!?!) who has autism and she solves murders. It’s not like the usual detective series because it’s one case for 10 episodes. Ooh and I love the intro tune, it’s so calming: Hollow Talk by Choir of Young Believers

Sledding! This was by far the most fun activity we’ve done. My mom didn’t dare to go any further after like 10 meters, so me , my siblings and dad went all the way down the mountain, which is about 7 kilometers (that’s like 1.5 hours to walk). And then we went back up to do it all over again. I had the best time, but it was so tiring and I still have bruises from trying to brake.

Food! The food is so good. Toast and kaiserschmarren are the best things for lunch. Kaiserschmarren are sooooo good, seriously. They’re like pancakes but then shredded, with jam and often applesauce.

Challenge update

Title

Author

Pages

Reviewed

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

530

No

SeQuence

Lorraine M.L.M

291

Yes

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy

Douglas Adams

216

No

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Douglas Adams

250

No

The Princess Saves Herself in this One

Amanda Lovelace

156

No

Siege and Storm

Leigh Bardugo

435

No

An Ember in the Ashes

Sabaa Tahir

446

No

Which brings me to 282 points! Even more than last month :)

I had a great month! Both for reading and personally (especially the ending was great). How was your month? Any great books you’ve read?

February Wrap-Up, March TBR & Challenge Update Is it just me or did February just fly by? For some reason my month started off really slow (reading wise) but ended up being super busy.

#february #march #monthly #tbr #wrapup