Month: September 2022

TOP TEN TUESDAY: 10 Books on My Fall 2022 TBR

- Meg

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), and this week’s topic is “Typographical Covers” but I wanted to revisit the previous week’s topic of ‘Books on Your Fall TBR!’ I’ve not really focused on TBRs in the last year or so, but sometimes setting aside a few books I want to focus on has actually led me to focus on them, so I’m swinging back to trying these out again. Maybe seasonally instead of monthly work better for me as I tend to be a mood reader and a library due date-driven reader!!

  • Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons, by Ben Riggs – A history of one of the most popular TTRPG! I don’t know much about the history of it, and this is a perfect-looking length of a general introduction!
  • Babel: An Arcane History, by R.F. Kuang – Fantasy dark academia is perfect for this time of year, and I can’t wait to dive into this. I’ve heard so many great things about it already!
  • The Year of the Witching, by Alexis Henderson – I’ve just started reading this after having it on numerous TBRs since it came out, and it’s just what I’ve been needing! I can definitely see this being for someone who enjoyed the movie The VVitch.
  • Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, by Shea Ernshaw – I’m curious about a YA novel about Sally after she marries Jack, and I couldn’t resist getting a copy of the BN exclusive edition because the cover is so much more appealing to me!!
  • For the Wolf, by Hannah Whitten – This is another one that has been on several TBRs since I picked it up, and something about the cover and the fall season makes me want to read fairy tale reimaginings.
  • The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston – Everything about this screams spooky season, and I’m interested in seeing how a romance works between a ghostwriter and a ghost.
  • Dead Astronauts, by Jeff VanderMeer – This is another one that’s been on so many TBRs over the last two years, and I keep staring at it, partially wanting to savor VanderMeer’s stuff forever and partially because sometimes his work intimidates me and I know it’s a whole to-do for me when I do read his work.
  • The Night Ocean, by Paul La Farge – A book about Lovecraft and his circle that seems perfect for fall (and has also been on so many TBRs). This is the season of knocking out my backlist!!!
  • The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror , by Robert Louis Stevenson – I read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde probably about twenty years ago (ack) when I was fourteen/fifteen, and I never revisited it!
  • Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn – I’ve enjoyed her Veronica Speedwell series, and I found the first two of the Lady Julia Grey series at a used bookstore a few years back, so I’m curious and excited to read her earlier series!

What is on your fall TBR this year? What types of books do you like to read seasonally?

BOOK REVIEW: The Ghost Bride, by Yangsze Choo

- Meg

BOOK REVIEW: The Ghost Bride, by Yangsze ChooTitle: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks
Published: August 5th 2014
Genres: Fiction, Historical, Fantasy
Pages: 354
Format: Trade Paper
Source: Purchased
Buy: Bookshop(afflilate link)
Goodreads

Yangsze Choo’s stunning debut, The Ghost Bride, is a startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists, reminiscent of Lisa See’s Peony in Love and Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

Li Lan, the daughter of a respectable Chinese family in colonial Malaysia, hopes for a favorable marriage, but her father has lost his fortune, and she has few suitors. Instead, the wealthy Lim family urges her to become a “ghost bride” for their son, who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at what price? Night after night, Li Lan is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, where she must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family.

 I started my spooky season reads a little early this year, and The Ghost Bride is one of those I’ve had on my shelves for a while that I picked out to round out some personal challenges this year.

I chose The Ghost Bride for my challenges because it has been on my shelves for a while, and it got a little bit of buzz when it was released and around the time Choo’s second novel was released, and I am sometimes one of those people who like to read books by authors in publication order. On top of that, the concept of Li Lan having to solve a murder in Death highly appealed to me, especially as a first read of ‘spooky’ season.

What I loved most was the attention to world detail, especially as a non-Chinese reader unfamiliar with some aspects of Chinese/colonial Malaysia culture, and I felt completely engaged with the worlds of the living and the dead. The story itself was straightforward, and this is something that would be a great bridge from readers of YA to readers of adult fiction, as thematically, I see a lot of the same themes and concepts in YA, but in Choo’s novel, the storytelling, language, and characters are a bit more elevated and complex. The villains are believable and not fully evil, the main character grows and shifts her perspective on ghost brides, marriage, and her role in her life and in her family’s life.

Overall, I enjoyed it! I thought it dragged a bit in the middle with repetitive narrative plots, but the resolution was satisfying and I don’t feel like I was missing anything from the story once it had finished. I’ll also be checking out the series on Netflix as well! I hadn’t realized the series was a thing until I unpacked a book at work with the Netflix sticker on the cover. If you want a bit of non-Western historical fiction with a spooky twist, look into this one!

BOOKENDS: May, June, July, & August 2022

- Meg

I took an impromptu hiatus, partially because it got very busy at work and partially because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the blog. I decided at some point during the summer that my blog needed a refresh. I had previously redone my blog in January 2020, I think? I liked it at the time, but the dark theme just kind of grew to something I didn’t like anymore, and it never seemed to work well when I tried to put it against a lighter background. Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago when I started looking at graphics and other blog designs as well as beginning to tie everything into an overarching personal brand, I found these graphics that I couldn’t stop thinking about!! I definitely think this is more ‘me,’ and it’s mostly done in Canva, which means I can work on it from nearly anywhere. Ease of access and portability makes a whole world of difference sometimes!

I don’t foresee much change happening to the bookish content of the blog aside from more posts, and I’m working on embroidery/stitchy stuff to showcase and eventually sell on Etsy, as well as makeup and movie content that I wanted to lean toward when I initially redid the blog design two and a half years ago! I’ll be adding links to Etsy and other social media places you can find me to the sidebar once they’re also updated and ready to go.

My reading felt chaotic over the summer, but I’m excited for the fall season and all of the fall reads I have on my nightstand!

CURRENTLY READING

Sometime during the summer, I picked out titles to fill out the remainder of my ABC challenge and my physical TBR challenge, and The Ghost Bride and Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured were two of the titles I picked out! I’m enjoying both, and The Ghost Bride is a perfect book for spooky season. Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died is everywhere, and even though I’m a few chapters in, I’m really enjoying her writing style and her voice.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 The Ghost Bride – Yangsze Choo
📚 I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
📚 Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured – Kathryn Harrison

FINISHED READING

To keep the post on the shorter side, I’m not going to go much into detail about the books I read!! I’ll separate each month so it’s not a blob of books. If there are any you’d like to see a review of, please leave a comment and let me know!!

I read nine books in May!, and I think my favorite of the month was the historical horror by Ally Wilkes, All the White Spaces.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📓 Until We Meet – Camille Di Maio (thank you, Forever Pub!)
📚 A Duke in the Night – Kelly Bowen 
⌛️ Happy People Are Annoying – Josh Peck 
📓 A Novel Obsession – Caitlin Barasch (thank you, Dutton Books!)
📓 Forging a Nightmare – Patricia A. Jackson (thank you, Angry Robot!)
📚 The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry
📓 Steal This Book – Abbie Hoffman (thank you, Hachette!)
📓 All the White Spaces – Ally Wilkes (thank you, Atria Books!)
⌛️ A Study in Death – Anna Lee Huber

 

I read nine books in June! I’m curious about these TikTok popular books, but I knew I wasn’t gonna like The Love Hypothesis, and I didn’t, lol. Ottessa Moshfegh, however, is a new favorite of mine.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

⌛️ A Far Wilder Magic – Allison Saft
⌛️ Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
📱 Lapvona – Ottessa Moshfegh (thank you, Penguin Press!)
⌛️ The Love Hypothesis – Ali Hazelwood
⌛️ Disorientation – Elaine Hsieh Chou
📚 Death in Her Hands – Ottessa Moshfegh
📚 People We Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry
📱 Sistersong – Lucy Holland (thank you, Redhook!)
📚 The Duke Heist – Erica Ridley

 

I read seven books in July! The Postmortal is excellent, and I’m a little sad I had it on my shelf for ten years and only just read it now… and I finally!!! finally!!!! finished The Big Book of Science Fiction. Note to self: don’t start tracking these books until the month you actually finish them because this was a lot.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 The Postmortal  – Drew Magary
⌛️ Delilah Green Doesn’t Care – Ashley Herring Blake
📚 The Baby-Sitter’s Club #1 Kristy’s Great Idea – Ann M. Martin
📚 My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
📚 The Baby-Sitter’s Club #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls – Ann M. Martin
⌛️ The Viscount Who Loved Me – Julia Quinn
📚 The Big Book of Science Fiction – edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

 

I read seven books in August! This wasn’t my best month for reading, and Persuasion was my favorite read of the month.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 The Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley
⌛️ The Fervor – Alma Katsu
📚 Goosebumps: Monster Blood – R.L. Stine
⌛️ The Bone Orchard – Sara A. Mueller
⌛️ If the Duke Demands – Anna Harrington
📚 Persuasion – Jane Austen
⌛️ Jade Fire Gold  – June CL Tan

 

ON THE HORIZON

I am trying to read more off my shelves instead of requesting more books from publishers and going to the library, so this is what I’ve got on my shelves for the fall season!!

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚  Up All Night With a Good Duke – Amy Rose Bennett
📚  Babel – R.F. Kuang
📚  A Year of the Witching – Alexis Henderson
📚  The Talisman – Stephen King and Peter Straub
📚  Reluctant Immortals – Gwendolyn Kiste

WHAT I ACQUIRED

Too many books, honestly, and more than I can recall to make some kind of feasible list.

ON SCREEN

I’ll be moving this section to a “Monthly Rewind” of sorts in the coming months!!