Aha! And here I am with another book tag to check in on my reading progress so far in 2021.
This one is the Half-Year Book Tag, which was created by BexnBookx.
Again, I’ll have to start this off with In the Garden of Spite because I liked it that much. Plus, all the other stuff I loved are part of a series. In the Garden of Spite is a historical thriller about a female serial killer.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve done a book tag that I feel as if I don’t know my blogging self anymore. Zezee with Books LOVES book tags! I should be doing one every week! But I can’t even remember when last I declared a book tag week. Things are getting out of hand here.
Well.
June is almost over, so I intend to do the usually end-of-June book tags that help me reflect on my reading progress so far.
I’ll start with the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag, which was created by Chami and Ely Jayne.
It’s historical fiction about a female serial killer and it’s a superbly fantastic, though at time disturbing, read. It is a thriller that borders on horror, and it is very well written and atmospheric and immersive too. It is a great read that I highly recommend. (See my review here.)
And so we’ve come to the last part of this book haul — the library books. I almost went overboard with these too. It was my first time entering a library to borrow books since the pandemic, and I was both excited about it grabbing everything that caught my eye. But I cooled myself and managed to walk out with just a few books. Yeahie me!
Here’s what I got.
And so we’ve come to the second part of this book haul, which will focus on digital purchases and free things. Is it necessary for me to list all these things? Yes, lol, because these book haul posts sometimes help me to remember what I have. Ha! Ha! Anyway, I have fun doing them and that’s all that matters.
Well then, to the books!
Well, it’s been a while since I did a book haul, so I have a lot of stuff here. Surprisingly to me, I’ve been purchasing a lot more than I want to. My book buying slowed some over the past few years (or so it seemed to me), but it seems to be picking back up now (good thing I work in a book store and get discounts). I’ll try a bit harder to stop.
Anyway, here are the physical stuff I bought over the past two or so months.
I don’t know why, but I really haven’t been in the mood to do a wrap-up post lately. Every time I thought about it, I decide to do something else, which is why I was able to post a few reviews recently, lol.
Let’s Rewind is a monthly wrap up but instead of talking about only books, I include all types of other stuff, like articles… bookish news… commercials… random-ass links… movies… art… podcasts… cartoons… and whatever else happened to me in the month. You know, the usual stuff that people talk about in monthly wrap ups. So read on to see what I did and read this month. You might stumble upon something that interests you.
Not much happened in May other than catching up on doctor appointments, hanging out with a friend, and visiting family I hadn’t seen in a year, which was fun and much needed. Other than that, I read and tried to save but ended up buying too much anyway. I’ll try again in July.
One fun thing I did was travel on the train to another state. I’ve only ever done that twice, and I really enjoyed it. Would love to do it again for a longer trip, maybe cross-country.
For this batch of comic book reviews, I’ll chat about two fantasy comics, one for the middle grade crowd and one for YA readers. Both were silly, fun reads that I enjoyed and liked the art.
I read both for Wyrd & Wonder in May.
Wizard Beach by Shaun Simon, illus. by Conor Nolan with colors by Meg Casey
Genre
MG Fantasy
Series
n/a
Pubbed
2019
From Goodreads
What do wizards and witches do when they need a break from the cold, ice-capped mountains of their homeland? They go to the beach, of course!
When Hexley Daggard Ragbottom, a high-strung young wizard, wants to put an end to the frost of dark forests he calls home, he seeks out his Uncle Salazar the greatest wizard of all time. But Uncle “Sally” has abandoned his old life for one of leisure, surfing and napping. Sally’s permanent vacation doesn’t sit well with Hexley, but maybe the young wizard is on the wrong mission. Maybe what “Hex” really needs is to learn how to chill out. (Goodreads)
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #56: Wizard Beach & Moonstruck, Vol. 2”
I read this with two of my friends for our bookclub because we all happened to have ARCs of it at the time. The premise sounded interesting, so we were eager to jump in. I thought it would be a fast, propulsive read that would have me at the edge of my seat the entire time. But although it started out good, the story was a huge letdown by the end that left me and my group quite unsatisfied.
Genre
Thriller
Series
n/a
Pubbed
June 2021
Get Out meets The Stepford Wives in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing.
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.
Continue reading ““The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris”
Before I get to the T5T post, I’d like to announce the WINNER of my Wyrd & Wonder GIVEAWAY!!!
The lucky winner is Tanja of Where Stories Lie. Congrats Tanja!!! 😆🤣🥳 She will receive a fantasy book purchase(s) of up to $30USD from Book Depository! 😀
Make sure to check out her Wyrd & Wonder wrap-up post.
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:
(If you had the time, what are 5 books you would reread now??)
I love revisiting things and often reread books and comics and rewatch movies and TV shows. Being already familiar with the material helps me to focus on other things as I re-experience these books and shows, so it feels like a new experience too.
This is probably the third time I’m doing this topic on here, and I always come up with something new because there are many books I’ve read that I’d love to reread. Here are a few more.
Continue reading “Top 5 Tuesday #53: Books I Want to Reread”
I know nothing about the superhero stories, so I didn’t realize Angela was from the Marvel superhero universe when I got this. I picked up 1602: Witch Hunter Angela purely because of the cover, and the title — I like stories about witches. It wasn’t until I started reading the bonus story — Marvel 1602, #1 by Neil Gaiman — included in this volume that I realize it’s about superheroes but set back in the early 1600s.
1602: Witch Hunter Angela by Marguerite Bennett & Kieron Gillen, illus. by Stephanie Hans with additional artwork by Marguerite Sauvage, Irene Koh & Jordie Bellaire, Frazer Irving, and Kody Chamberlain & Lee Loughridge
Genre
Historical Fiction; Fantasy
Series
Marvel 1602
Pubbed
2016
From Goodreads
In the altered realms of Battleworld, Angela and Sera are Witch Hunters, the scourges of King James’ England, 1602. In a land beset by magic and monstrosity, they seek a new and seductive evil-not witchbreed, but deal-making Faustians, who bargain with ancient creatures for unnatural power! Moral ambiguity? Fancy allusions? Marguerite making the most of that English degree?
Collecting: 1602: Witch Hunter, Angela 1-4, 1602 (Goodreads)
I had to read this one twice, which I usually do with comics to refresh my memory before reviewing them but with this one, I had to do a double read because I didn’t get the story my first time through. The plot was too episodic, and I couldn’t tell how Angela and her companion, Serah, were able to quickly identify the Faustians. And although I liked some of the mini-stories interjected throughout, they didn’t help to ease my confusion about the main plot.
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #55: 1602 — Angela and Marvel”
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