Wyrd & Wonder Is Coming | Here’s My TBR

Wyrd & Wonder is possibly my favorite reading event in the year. I’m SO excited to be participating in it again this year, and hopefully this time I’ll really put a dent in my physical fantasy TBR.

What is Wyrd & Wonder?

It’s a relaxed monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy that’s hosted by the Wyrd & Wonder crew: Imyril, Lisa, and Jorie.

There is no deadline for signing up; however, if you do so and make a post before May 7, you’ll be entered into a giveaway. Participants can participate in any way they choose: read only fantasy books or only fantasy comics, watch fantasy shows, post about fantasy-related stuff, play only fantasy games… whatever you like. However you choose to participate is totally up to you, and you can include links to your post in the master schedule or just check it out to see what others plan to post.

For more details about the event, check out the following links:

Wyrd and Wonder Is Back
(intro. to the event and contains banners, necessary links, and info. on the giveaway)

Wyrd and Wonder Challenge 2021
(contains challenge prompts, which you can post wherever and however you like)

Wyrd and Wonder: Read-along
(info. on the group-read book: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart)

Wyrd and Wonder
(Twitter profile)

Advertisement

Top 5 Tuesday #52: Graphic Novels Not Often Mentioned

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books graphic novels

(Recommend your favourite graphic novels!! Will also accept comic book series, webtoons and any other form of words and pictures.)

Instead of focusing solely on graphic novels I’ve read and loved, I’ve decided to mention here 5 graphic novels I don’t often see mentioned on bookish social media channels I use. These are listed by my rating (high to low). The lowest rating was a 2.5, which isn’t so bad.

THE GIGANTIC BEARD THAT WAS EVIL BY STEPHEN COLLINS (ILLUS.)

It’s a fable about a man named Dave who lives on a neat and orderly island called Here. Dave is bald except for a single hair above his lip that one day begins to grow into a full-blown beard that doesn’t stop growing and ends up disrupting the orderliness of the island he lives on.

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil was a great read that touches on people’s fear of the unknown, and the story is accompanied by beautiful simple, yet detailed, pencil drawings. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Book Haul #72: Last of the Last

The last book haul I did was supposed to be my last one for the year. *Sigh* I’ve been kidding myself. I always fail miserably whenever I try to limit my book buying, but I’m going to try again since my birthday is now out of the way and I can’t think of any book I feel the need to urgently get.

For the next couple months (let’s say 4 months), I’ll get my books from the library if I don’t have it (exceptions for book club/buddy-read books). So let’s try this book buying ban again.

In the meantime, here are some stuff I recently got!

Purchases

Physical

Comics Roundup #53: “My Body in Pieces”

Although I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, it does not influence the thoughts and opinions I share about my reading experience below.

My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert (illus.), transl. by Shelley Tanaka

Genre

Nonfiction — Memoir

Series

n/a

Pubbed

April 1, 2021

Goodreads summary

A deeply emotional graphic memoir of a young woman’s struggles with self-esteem and body image issues.

All Marie-Noëlle wants is to be thin and beautiful. She wishes that her thighs were slimmer, that her stomach lay flatter. Maybe then her parents wouldn’t make fun of her eating habits at family dinners, the girls at school wouldn’t call her ugly, and the boy she likes would ask her out. This all-too-relatable memoir follows Marie-Noëlle from childhood to her twenties, as she navigates what it means to be born into a body that doesn’t fall within society’s beauty standards.

Top Ten Tuesday #48: Colorful Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic:

Colorful Book Covers

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a post that’s entirely focused on book covers 😀 and not go a bit overboard with it, lol. Below are 12 books with beautiful, colorful covers: 6 I’ve read (linked to reviews) and 6 that are on my physical TBR.

Books I’ve read

“Kushiel’s Chosen” by Jacqueline Carey

I finished Kushiel’s Chosen quite a while ago but, as usually happens when I love a book too much, I procrastinated on the review because I don’t know what to say or where to begin. So, as is also usual, I’ve decided to just start typing and hope it all makes sense by the end. 🙃

Kushiel’s Chosen is the second novel in a trilogy that I was introduced to by the Wyrd & Wonder crew, who have hosted readalongs for the first book and this one. It’s a high fantasy story set in a world that is heavily influenced by European culture, history, and mythologies. The story is mostly set in Terre D’Ange, a country peopled by descendants of angels, and focuses on a young woman named Phèdre, who spent most of her childhood growing up in the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers, a.k.a. the Night Court, which is dedicated to the service of the angel Naamah. Members of the Night Court are molded into courtesans. They see copulation in service to Naamah as sacred, which Phèdre wholeheartedly believes.

The angels are, of course, regarded as gods. Because Phèdre has a red mote in her eye, she is considered marked by Kushiel, who is considered the punisher among the angels, and god-touched. Kushiel’s chosens are called anguissettes and, due to being chosen by such a god, tend to derive pleasure from pain. Thus, as a servant of Naamah and marked by Kushiel, the services Phèdre partake in are often masochistic.

In addition to all that, Phèdre was also trained as a spy and is often wrapped up in whatever major political machination is in play or is trying to find out about it. So, much of the plot’s drive comes from political intrigue. It all makes for a very compelling read!

Never Have I Ever Book Tag

I wasn’t planning to post another book tag this week. I’m in high reading spirit, but I’m not in the mood to draft reviews or anything else, so… a book tag it is! 😀

And this is another tag that I was actually tagged for! Yeahie!! 😀

I was tagged by Lisa at Way Too Fantasy for this tag that I’ve never done before. 🤣🤣 (Yep, cracking myself up here.) It was created by Madame Writer/Anne With a Book.

Apparently, there are rules:

1. Link back to the original creator! (Madame Writer)
2. Link back to the person who tagged you!
3. Answer all prompts.
4. Add one more prompt of your own.
5. Tag at least five people.
6. Don’t lie.
7. Have fun!

Never Have I Ever… read a later book in a series before reading the first book.

Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid

Top 5 Tuesday #51: Books I’d Rerate

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books I want to rerate

(Are there books out there that you loved the first time you read them but now not so much? Or maybe it’s the opposite and you didn’t enjoy a book the first time you read it, but later on you changed your mind?)

I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books. Well, to be more accurate, I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books once I’ve posted a review of them. I rate the books I read on Goodreads as soon as I complete them. But sometimes, once I start reflecting on the book to draft my review, I’ll end up changing the rating I initially gave it. This often happens with comics and picture books since they are short and I’ll read them quickly without giving them the time they deserve. That’s why I often read those a second time before starting on my review and finalizing my rating of them.

Meet the Book Blogger Tag

It’s been a while since I’ve done a tag that I was actually tagged for because I tend to procrastinate on all things, like the good procrastinator that I am.

But, since I’d like to procrastinate a bit more on doing book reviews, here’s the Meet the Book Blogger Tag!! 😀 I was tagged for it by Aaron at Swords & Spectres. The tag was created by Samantha and Amber, the Bibliomavens.

Who is your all-time favourite book character?

2021 Reading Wrap-Up: First Quarter

Can you believe the first quarter of the year has passed? Winter is done, and we’re now entering the spring months that’ll hopefully bring us some new, good reads.

Reading-wise, I think I did good this first quarter. I read a variety of stuff and managed to get through 15 books! If I keep that up, I’ll certainly pass my Goodreads goal for this year, which is at a manageable 50 books. Let’s see what I got through.

BOOKS | AUDIO BOOKS | COMICS

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•