Memes

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Summer Movies

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring three movies coming out in the next month!

  • Zola – dir. Janicza Bravo – based on a Twitter thread from 2015, this looks like it’s every bit as wild and hilarious as the story told in that thread! Releases June 30, 2021.
  • Marvel’s Black Widow – dir. Cate Shortland – I feel like some of us (me) have been waiting for like ten years for a Black Widow movie, and I’m excited to see where this one goes. Releases July 9, 2021.
  • Space Jam: A New Legacy – dir. Malcolm D. Lee and Terence Nance :: This looks FUN and I hope it has a lot of little throwbacks to the original. Releases July 16, 2021.

What are you looking forward to seeing this summer?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten Books on my Wishlist

- Meg 7 Comments

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 “Books on My Wishlist”! There’s an Amazon link below to my wishlist, but absolutely do not feel obligated to purchase anything for me! These also in no particular order, just in the order I found them through my Goodreads to-read list.

  • The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid– So many fairy tale and myth retellings are coming out, and I’ve seen such good things about this!
  • Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian – Give me all of the Arthurian revisits, especially about the female characters.
  • Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen – I keep looking at this at the bookstore, and the cover is so pretty that I want to own a physical copy!
  • Son of the Storm by Suyi Davis Okungbowa – Everything in Orbit’s pipeline lately has been and looks incredible, and this is no exception.
  • The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu – I love books about books/libraries, and this looks delightfully spooky.
  • Ariadne by Jennifer Saint – This keeps catching my attention every time I go to the bookstore and see it on Instagram, and I’m totally digging these Greek mythology retellings.
  • Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell – This keeps being touted as Finn/Poe-esque, and tbh I want it for that reason alone.
  • The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo – A The Great Gatsby retelling from the perspective of Jordan??? I’ve been wanting to read this ever since it was announced.
  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan – This is another one I’ve been hearing so much about and it just looks amazing.
  • Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim – Aside from this cover being one of the most beautiful, striking covers I’ve seen in a while, the story sounds incredible too.

> > > Amazon Wishlist < < <

Do not feel obligated to purchase anything off the wishlist!

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on My Summer 2021 TBR

- Meg 2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), and last week’s topic (that I’m doing this week instead) is “Books on my Summer TBR” and all of these are books I currently have with me in my car or on my Kindle. I read exactly ZERO of my spring books, but to be fair I also moved and probably packed half of them in a hurry. I should call these possibility piles because set TBRs don’t always work for me, but when I’m sitting there wondering what to read, having this list put out there in the world is a great reference and starting point for me.

  • Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala – I saw this on a table and on a couple of Instagram posts, and it looks like the perfect summer cozy mystery!
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I have enjoyed all of Reid’s recent releases, so I’m sure I will love this one!! I also want to knock out her backlist prior to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but first things first!
  • Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto – I love everything about this cover and the premise, and I hope it’s an alphabet series!
  • The Duke Heist by Erica Ridley – Let’s be real, I just need some historical romance fluff to balance out this current chaos.
  • Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth – This was sent to me by HMH (thank you!!!) and I’m very interested in the premise! I enjoyed the Divergent series, didn’t quite enjoy what came next, but I’m looking forward to reading Roth’s foray into adult fiction!
  • The Pariah by Anthony Ryan – Access to this was included as part of me being a bookseller, and I’m always in the mood to try some new fantasy even though I’m terrible at keeping up with series. However, this one looks gritty and something to balance out everything else I’m reading and wanting to read!
  • Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia – Listen, I am in the mood for mysteries and thrillers, probably because they are pageturner likelihoods and I desperately need those, but the cover of this initially caught my attention and then it being queer??? YES thank you.
  • Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler – I just need more Anne of Green Gables in my life, and this contemporary romance retelling set in New York has already ticked off a lot of my yay boxes.
  • The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy – Something about the cover and the premise caught my attention, and everything I’ve heard about this weird sci-fi has been good things!
  • One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston – This has been on my radar since it was announced but then I recently found out that it’s kind of a reinvention of Kate & Leopold which is one of my favorite movies???

What’s on your summer TBR?

FIRST LINES FRIDAY: Phoenix Unbound, by Grace Draven

- Meg

Hello, Friday! First Lines Friday is a feature on my blog in which I post the first lines from a book I am interested in reading, either a new release or a backlist title! The latest feature for these reads are all of the books on my Spring TBR!

For Gilene, spring was the season neither of rain nor of planting, but of suffering.

She waited beside her mother, sister, and brothers as the caravan of shackled women plodded down Beroe’s market street toward the town square. The slavers of the Empire guided the line, shoving their cargo forward with harsh commands and the occasional warning crack of a whip.

She had already exchanged farewells with her mother and siblings. Each had embraced her, dry-eyed and grim-faced. This wasn’t their first parting, and for good or ill, it wouldn’t be their last.

Her eldest brother, Nylan, squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll be waiting for you in the usual spot,” he said in low tones meant for only her to hear. Gilene nodded, reaching up to pat his hand.

Her eyebrows arched when her mother sidled a little closer, her fingertips brushing Gilene’s sleeve in a hesitant caress, “Come back to us when it’s over.”

Gilene kept her reply behind her teeth. It was never over. Not for her. Despite her mother’s half-hearted gesture of comfort, she wouldn’t defend her daughter. Gilene would endure this every year until her age and her scars crippled her so badly, she could no longer wield her magic well enough to fool the Empire, and her burden became another’s. Her resentment served to blunt her fear.

I don’t remember exactly where I found this title, but I was in the mood for specifically fantasy romance, so I’m sure I found this on a Goodreads list and added it to my TBR!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Spring & Summer Review Titles

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring March-June 2021 review copies that I have either in physical form or digital form that I can’t wait to dive into! The release dates are listed but are always subject to change.

  • To Love and To Loathe – Martha Waters :: The first in this series was one of my favorite historical romance reads of 2020, and I love this new style of cover! Releases April 6, 2021.
  • Astrid Sees All – Natalie Standiford :: It’s about young women in New York in the 80s, and that cover is amazing. Releases April 6, 2021.
  • The Other Black Girl – Zakiya Dalila Harris :: Everything about this book sounds amazing and it’s already getting a lot of hype! Releases June 1, 2021.
  • I’m Waiting for You and Other Stories – Kim Bo-Young :: Sci-fi short stories by a South Korean author?? YES. I saw this on the ARC shelf at work and immediately grabbed it. Releases April 6, 2021.
  • Lilyville – Tovah Feldshuh :: I love memoirs, especially ones about women growing up several decades before I was born. Releases April 13, 2021.
  • Composite Creatures – Caroline Hardaker :: Everything about this sounds amazing, and I’m so excited to be on the blog tour for this!! I’ll be posting officially about it on April 28! Releases April 13, 2021.
  • The Ladies of the Secret Circus – Constance Sayers :: I really enjoy historical takes on circuses, especially after reading The Night Circus forever ago, and I’m looking forward to reading this one! Released March 23, 2021.
  • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev – Dawnie Walton :: This is recommended to people who like Daisy Jones and the Six because it’s a fictional music history, and I’m here for it. Released March 30, 2021.
  • Cool for the Summer – Dahlia Adler :: I keep hearing about this because of the bi rep it has, and honestly it just sounds really cute. Releases May 11, 2021.
  • The Tangleroot Palace – Marjorie Liu :: I have only read the first volume of her Monstress graphic novel and I really should get around to finishing it, but this is a collection of short stories by her and LOOK at that COVER. Releases June 15, 2021.

Are any of these on your to-read list? What one would you read first?