REVIEW | Wildseed Witch

Storygraph | Goodreads

Author: Marti Dumas
Title: Wildseed Witch
Published: May 10, 2022
Pages: 352
Format: E-ARC and Hoopla
Rating: 4 stars

Today I am reviewing Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas, a middle grade fantasy featuring an all-BIPOC cast. This is about an aspiring and raising makeup YouTuber who learns that she’s a witch and gets sent off to a private Witch Camp/finishing school. While at Les Belles Demoiselles, she learns to be a witch alongside extremely talented and powerful girls; however, she is a “Wildseed” as she comes from a family of non-witches, unlike the other girls who attend the school. Hasani must learn how to succeed and harness her magical abilities in her own way.

I thought that this book was a lot of fun and very thoughtful. Hasani is a very relatable and likeable character that has flaws, insecurities, and also amazing strengths, thus making her an awesome protagonist. You see how she learns to navigate exclusive social groups within her school, forming friendships and facing obstacles within them. You also see her grow personally within domains in her life, be it: accepting responsibility, learning to live with difficult family dynamics, and learning how to forgive others (and herself). Additionally, I enjoyed the incorporation of Creole heritage and New Orleans/Louisiana history into the book.

In regards to pacing, the first half of the book is pretty easy to fall into as you learn about Hasani and her background and I felt like this was fairly quickly paced. Towards the middle it was a bit slow, but then it picked right back up again in the last third of the book.

I’m looking forward to reading more in the series as I want to learn more about how the magic system works and know the range of Hasani’s potential magical capabilities. My cat Olivia and I would also like to see more cat appearances in the future! And, gosh, Erick Davila is such a talented artist. This artist illustrated the covers for: The Inheritance of Zoraida Cordova, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land (among others!)- I can’t wait to see what book cover number 2 will look like.

Olivia and I definitely recommend this book and hope you will enjoy it! It’s perfect if you would like a book about young witches that ultimately shows character development, friendships, and family.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings: Classism, Toxic Friendship, Bullying, Slavery, Colonization, Infidelity, Suicide, Abandonment.

QOTD: Will you be reading this book?
Let us know!

The Sunday Post #3 & more!

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with:

Update

Olivia Update

This week has been a very restful week for Olivia, though we did manage to sneak in a few adventures here and there.

We’ve gone on the netted balcony/catio together quite a few times for some fun in the sun. She absolutely loves to sniff all the outdoor smells she possibly can.

The weather has been very sunny with clear skies and warm days. Although I personally may enjoy the summer breeze, Olivia is fearful of the wind, a fear that she bravely manages to conquer by the end of each summer season. She inspires me!

We have also discussed our recent reads and she is quite annoyed at the lack of cat books this week – I just must keep reminding her that we will be starting one soon. Now, this clearly provides little reassurance for her – but we really do have a fantastic Cat book coming up soon. So, hold tight, Olivia! We’re almost there!

Life

Last weekend we had a lot of fun and went to a local cafe. They have delicious vegan muffins that have so much flavour, I often need to get a second helping after finishing muffin #1!

Just typing this out makes me want to have another muffin so badly!

After our muffin and caffeine fixes were complete, we then went to our local garden centre and purchased roses, succulents, and plants for our balcony. The garden centre usually has so many choices, but this late in the season it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. But, better late than never!

Reading

Here is where we will insert our Stacking the Shelves and reading updates!

Recently Finished:

We are happy to report that we finished both Radium Girls and Wildseed Witch! Both will both be given full reviews here on the blog very soon (Note: these are NetGalley reads and all of my NetGalley books are provided in exchange for honest reviews), but we are a bit behind at the moment. We also finished Surviving the City which was quite an emotional read. Quickly, we recommend all books if you are looking for a good nonfiction graphic novel (Radium Girls), a magical middle grade fantasy (Wildseed Witch), and/or a powerful and emotional contemporary graphic novel (Surviving the City).

Currently Reading:

Currently, I am reading A History of Women in the World by Marilyn French and Always Never by Jordi Lafebre, taken out from my library via the Libby and Hoopla apps, respectively.

I am learning so much in Marilyn French’s book, and am about 30% of the way through, so far. The book provides insights into the roles of women in society throughout history in ancient Egypt, China, India, Peru, Mexico, Greece, and Rome (among other places). It is eerie to read this book at this moment in time and I am just devouring the book. The Foreword by Margaret Atwood is just awesome.

Always Never tells a love story in reverse over a span of forty years. I’m not quite sure how I’ll end up enjoying this one – I think the art style is not for me, perhaps? But I think the story has a lot of potential, so we will keep moving forward! And perhaps I’ll end up loving it by the end.

Next Reads

All my next reads are books that are picks from my July TBR game. And, frankly, I’m a bit concerned I may not get through all of my books this month! If we can finish these three by the end of next week, oh gosh, then I’ll be on my way to completing the list and all fears re: not finishing will be alleviated swiftly!

Olivia is most looking forward to I am a Cat by Soseki Natsume, a dialogue of human nature from the perspective of a cat. I am looking forward to all three books but think that A Lot Like Adios might be exactly what I’m looking for after some nonfiction and philosophical reads since it is a contemporary romance with a super intriguing synopsis! And it may just be perfect for this point in the summer. Finally, Lore might be interesting to read after reading my current read: A History of Women in the World since they mention ancient Greece quite a bit in the book.

New Arrivals

NetGalley

We have been approved for two books by NetGalley this week and are happy to give our full review soon! The first book is a cozy mystery and is the second book in the Cambridge Bookshop Series – A Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney. We had so much fun reading the first novel that of course we had to request this title! And we cannot wait to see what new mystery Molly Kimball will fall into this time around!

Additionally, we have been approved to read The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher. It is a fantasy/romance about a time-travelling witch who loses her memory after waking up in her own home 100 years later. Oh, and there are monsters. We are intrigued and hope this will be a great read before heading into Autumn!

Last Week on the Blog

This Week on the Blog

  • Tuesday – Top Ten Tuesdays: Freebie (Note: What topic would you like to see?)
  • Saturday – Stacking the Shelves
  • Sunday – The Sunday Post and The Sunday Salon
  • TBD: Wildseed Witch Review

We will also be hosting our Caturday Reading Sprints on our booktube channel this week! And, still on the list is a mid-year bullet journal flip through.

Update!

Booktube:
Here is our Recent Reads video which goes over our weekly reading. Enjoy!

QOTD: what are you currently reading this week?

Let us know!

book covers that feel like summer

Hello, everyone!

We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

Here are my Top Ten book covers that feel like summer!

Goodreads Description:
A coming-of-age story set in Mexico quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists.

Baja California, 1979. Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. She’s bored. Terribly bored. Yet her head is filled with dreams of Hollywood films, of romance, of a future beyond the drab town where her only option is to marry and have children.

Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future.

When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone’s asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman who is quickly being tangled in a web of deceit.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most exciting voices in fiction, and with her first crime novel, UNTAMED SHORE, she crafts a blazing novel of suspense with an eerie seaside setting and a literary edge that proves her a master of the genre.

Goodreads Description:
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

Goodreads Description:
A magic passed down through generations . . .

Georgina Fernweh waits with growing impatience for the tingle of magic in her fingers—magic that has been passed down through every woman in her family. Her twin sister, Mary, already shows an ability to defy gravity. But with their eighteenth birthday looming at the end of this summer, Georgina fears her gift will never come.

An island where strange things happen . . .

No one on the island of By-the-Sea would ever call the Fernwehs what they really are, but if you need the odd bit of help—say, a sleeping aid concocted by moonlight—they are the ones to ask.

No one questions the weather, as moody and erratic as a summer storm.

No one questions the (allegedly) three-hundred-year-old bird who comes to roost on the island every year.

A summer that will become legend . . .

When tragedy strikes, what made the Fernweh women special suddenly casts them in suspicion. Over the course of her last summer on the island—a summer of storms, of love, of salt—Georgina will learn the truth about magic, in all its many forms.

Goodreads Description:
The author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn’t turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own…

When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn’t come as a surprise–or happen in front of 45,000 people.

When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn’t the hard part–they’ve only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans…

At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up–in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can’t be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes…

Goodreads Description:
The New York Times best-selling author of Final Girls and Survive the Night (“a master of the twist and the turn” – Rolling Stone) is back with his most unexpected thriller yet.

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.

Goodreads Description:
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue. 

Goodreads Description:
Librarian Lucy’s new historic house comes with a lot of baggage and family secrets. Can she put them to rest or will a killer bring Lucy’s family to their downfall, in the 9th Lighthouse Library mystery.

It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. The house needs a lot of renovations, but they worked hard over the winter to get it ready. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. That is, until a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.   

The first night Lucy’s alone in the house, with the company of Charles the library cat, she hears sounds. Investigating they see footsteps in the dust of the unfinished living room, and the door to the outside is open. Lucy’s reminded that the house is said to be haunted: forty years ago the teenage daughter of the owners fled in the night, and never again stepped foot inside her family home. 

But the sounds have an all-too-human origin and one evening Lucy and Connor find the dead body of a man they don’t even recognize in their kitchen. They soon realize he has a long-time connection to their house. Lucy’s forced to find out what happened all those years ago and why it’s threatening her happiness today.

Meanwhile, the Classic Novel Reading Club is reading The House of the Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne, a book about another old house full of secrets. Can Lucy find parallels to her own situation in Hawthorne’s fiction before the killer strikes again?

Goodreads Description:
Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible. 

Goodreads Description:
After her parents get divorced, Ann Uekusa and her mother move from Tokyo to rural Shimane. Accustomed to the anonymity of city living, Ann can’t get used to the almost overbearing kindness of the people in her mother’s hometown. But when personal tragedy strikes, Ann discovers how much she needs that kindness.

Goodreads Description:
For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

QOTD: What books covers feel like summer to you?
Let us know!

The Sunday Post #2

We are so excited to be posting our second Sunday Post update! We are linking up to The Sunday Post via the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz!

Update

Olivia Update

Olivia 😸 has been on the prowl this morning! She is always assessing her environment to find hidden catnip toys (her favourite is Yeowww catnip Purr!-muda Triangle – she is very happy with it).

On the prowl.

Another favourite of hers this summer is her cooling mat which she loves to lounge on in her office. Though, she has little to no interest in her hammock. We’ve tried placing a familiar blanket her grandmother made for her on top which helps a bit. But, alas, the cat hammock is still an unknown situation in the household!

Olivia, uncertain re: her new hammock.
Plotting her escape.

Life

The weather outside has been a mixture of rain/thunderstorms and clear, sunny weather. The rain has been very much welcome, though, as the last few summers have been terribly hot and dry. It looks as though today is the perfect day to get a few plants for our garden – look for a garden update next week!

Reading

We are still working our way through Radium Girls, Wildseed Witch, and Surviving the City. Alas … we have not completed any books this week! However, we did host reading sprints on our booktube channel yesterday which were a ton of fun; thus, we’ve made a fair bit of progress on Wildseed Witch and hope to finish it today!

Blog

This week was all about setting up our new blog! I transferred from Blogger to WordPress.com simply because I wanted to easily use various plugins, I like the community aspect and various other features, and finally I wanted to learn how to use a new-to-me platform.

One minor hiccup when changing domain hosting platforms … What I did not expect was how long it would take for my DNS to propagate – basically meaning that I was unable to access my site for more than a day 😅

But we are still here!

And my cat Olivia and I are SO happy to continue blogging so we can share our thoughts about books and check out everyone’s posts. Thank you for being here!

Thank you!

Last Week On the Blog

Here are our posts from this past week! We’ve been able to write and connect with others. And that’s just so great!

This Week on The Blog

  • Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesdays (#2): Book Covers That Feel Like Summer
  • Friday: Friday Reads #2
  • Saturday: Stacking the Shelves #2
  • Sunday: The Sunday Post #3
  • Wildseed Witch and Radium Girls NetGalley Reviews (TBD)

Also, we are planning to host reading sprints next Saturday (Caturday!) on our booktube channel and at the very least film our mid-year reading journal flip-through.

Check out our Reading Journal Setup video from the beginning of the year!

New Arrivals

Definitely check out our Saturday Stacking the Shelves post for this! We purchased new new books and have checked out some books from our library.

This wraps up today’s Sunday Post!

QOTD: How’s your week been? Let us know!

Note: we are not affiliated with any companies or products mentioned in this post.

Stacking the shelves #1

This is my first time participating in Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality!

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks! In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves. The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews. For the last few years it’s been co-hosted at Team Tynga’s and here at Reading Reality.” (Source)

We have purchased and are adding two new books to our shelves! Let’s takes a lot at our bookish finds.

Purchases

We recently pre-ordered our most anticipated book of the year “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by one of our favourite authors, Silvia Moreno-Garcia! This was purchased via Indigo, Chapters in hardcover form and we are SO excited welcome this beauty onto our shelves! Just look at it!

We gushed over SMG’s new novel in our Anticipated 2022 Reads blog post and we are happy to gush over it again here! And from reading everyone’s lovely comments, it appears though MANY of us cannot wait to read it!

Let’s take a look at our second purchase from Indigo.

We are so lucky to have found these wonderful Sailor Moon editions! Thus far, I have acquired Eternal Editions 1-5, and now I am happy to continue adding more to the collection. If you’ve previously read this manga, these books are such a treat as they are so large (10.02 x 7.13 x 0.91 inches!) allowing you to really immerse yourself into the story. They also include additional notes at the back of each copy to learn more about the world of Sailor Moon both as you are reading or afterward for review.

Library

Finally, we have shelved and are reading two books from the library!

This book is about Miikwan (Anishinaabe) and Dez (Inninew) who have to face and maneuver various challenges they encounter while growing up Indigenous in the city. I’m already 77% of the way through – it is beautifully illustrated and an emotional read as it deals with grief, loss, and other sensitive topics. Fortunate to have found this in our Libby app and to be reading it this month as part of our July TBR!

Goodreads | The Storygraph

Finally, another book that I’ve put on my July TBR based off of our TBR Game, Fighting Evil by Booklight is Always Never by Jodi LaFebre. We were able to access this book via Hoopla. It tells a 40 year love story in reverse and I’m so curious to see how it will be done! I’ve seen wonderful reviews and I can’t wait to dig in!

QOTD: What books have you
recently placed on your shelves?

Note: I am not sponsored or affiliated with any stores/brands/companies/products mentioned.

friday reads #1

Olivia is soaking up the sun on this Fri-yay!

Hello everyone!

Today Olivia and I our first Friday Reads on our book blog – Wahoo! While we usually aim to do our Friday updates via booktube, we’ve had a fairly busy week and think this is the perfect way to catch up on the ongoing updates. Today we’ll just be discussing what we are currently reading and then what book we’ll be picking up next. In future posts, we’ll update you on the books we’ve finished since our last update. And a short summary will be present in our Sunday posts.

Okay, enough talking. Let’s get to the books!

CURRENTLY READING

Goodreads Description:
Hasani’s post-seventh-grade summer to-do list is pretty simple: get a bigger following for her makeup YouTube channel and figure out how to get her parents back together. What she does NOT expect is that an emotional outburst will spark a latent magical ability in her. Or that the magic will be strong enough to attract the attention of witches. Or that before she can say #BlackGirlMagic, she’ll be shipped off on a scholarship to a fancy finishing school for talented young ladies.

Les Belles Demoiselles is a literal charm school. Here, generations of young ladies from old-money witch families have learned to harness their magic, and alumnae grow to become some of the most powerful women across industries, including politicians, philanthropists, CEOs, entrepreneurs—and yes, even social media influencers. Needless to say, admission to the school is highly coveted, very exclusive . . . and Hasani sticks out like a weed in a rose bouquet.

While the other girls have always known they were destined to be witches, Hasani is a Wildseed––a stray witch from a family of non-witches, with no background knowledge, no way to control her magic, and a lot to catch up on. “Wildseed” may be an insult that the other girls throw at her, but Wildseeds are more powerful than they know. And Hasani will learn that there are ways to use magic and thrive that can never be taught in a classroom. 

I’m really enjoying this book so far! You really root for Hasani in her efforts to become a great witch. Despite not coming from a magical background, it’s evident that she has the potential to do amazing things and I’m excited to see what the second half of the book will bring for us!

Goodreads Description:
The proud holders of well-paying jobs at the local watch factory, these working-class young women gain their nickname from the fine dusting of glowing, radioactive powder that clings to their clothes after every shift painting watch dials. The soft, greenish glow even stains their lips and tongues, which they use to point the fine brushes used in their work. It’s perfectly harmless . . . or so claims the watch manufacturer.

When teeth start falling out, followed by jawbones, the dial painters become the unprepared vanguard on the frontlines of the burgeoning workers’ rights movement. Desperate for compensation and acknowledgement from the company that has doomed them, the Ghost Girls must fight, not just for their own lives but the future of every woman to follow them.

A stunning graphic novel retelling of the shocking and inspiring true story.

This is such a fascinating graphic novel! Prior to reading this, I had no idea that women were facing such occupational hazards in the early 1900s. It’s made me look even further into other hazardous work environments – for example, I did a youtube search and discovered that the snow in the Wizard of Oz was asbestos, which is carcinogenic!

NEXT

Goodreads Description:
Hi Mich. It’s Gabe.

After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago.

It’s been a long time.

Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new marketing campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him.

I’ve missed you.

Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As they work on the campaign, old feelings resurface, and their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adiós again?

I have been meaning to read this one for such a long time! That is exactly why I added this to my TBR game and low and behold, this book was selected! It just sounds really good and the perfect summer read.

Here’s our TBR game, if you’d like to see what other are on our July TBR!

July TBR Game video!

QOTD

What are you currently reading?

The Sunday Post #1

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the blog! 

This is my first time participating in #TheSundayPost and this is actually my THIRD post on our new blog.
(I am still figuring everything out, so any advice is appreciated!)

And honestly … The Sunday Post looks like so much fun!
I had to participate!

It’s hosted by Kimberly, The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and allows bloggers to check in with each other. It gives us the opportunity to share news, recap the past week, look at the week ahead, and showcase new bookish finds. How perfect is that?!

Introduction and Update

We are going to start with introductions below! For those new to Sara’s Reading Nook, this is a photo of me and my cat, Olivia. She’s purrfectly divine (and feline!)

This week, I started to blog again. And gosh, does it ever feel good! I used to blog years ago about university life and applying to professional degree programs, but now I am picking it up again and dedicating it to what we love most:
 
Cats
and 
Books!
 
As you can see, my cat Olivia and I really love to read books. And we read nearly every single genre out in the literature world, with a slight preference for:
  • graphic novels and manga
  • contemporaries
  • YA and adult fiction
  • cat books (show us a cat on the cover and we are probably in!)
 

 

What we’ve been up to recently …

Readathons ….

We have been busy as can be! We host the Hello Seasons Readathons which are four weekend-long readathons that run throughout the year. And they are busy, busy! We have also hosted the Catathon Readathon and Hello 2022 Readathon so, look out for those. Definitely consider joining our readathons if you have not joined them before. They are a lot of fun to participate in, and all of our hosts and participants are so amazing. They make the readathons a blast to run!

NetGalley …. 

We are currently reading two e-Galleys provided to us by NetGalley and are enjoying them (thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing e-Galleys in exchange for honest reviews!) Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas is currently being read and we really need to catch up and complete this one as soon as possible. This book is a middle grade fantasy with witches – sounds amazing, doesn’t it?! I’m nearing the mid-way point and am enjoying it so far! 
 
The second book I am reading is Radium Girls by Cy. This is a historical, nonfiction graphic novel set in the early 20th century that tells the story of women who died after fatal radium poisoning via their work as dial makers. It’s very intriguing, fascinating, and scary so far to learn more about this topic and it has encouraged me to be reflective and to ponder about occupational hazards, both current and throughout history! I am hoping to finish both books in the next couple of days.

Reading Sprints …. 

We are going to host reading sprints this week! I am currently running a poll on my bookstagram page to find out the best time of the week for these, but it looks as though Saturday, July 9th is the likely winner. I run these fairly often on my channel just for fun and for those who are participating in our readathons! If you’d like to find out more, definitely check our booktube as we schedule them ideally 24+ hours in advance. 

Recent Posts

We have only just begun here on the blog! 
Here are our two latest posts:

We are still navigating and looking for link-up suggestions for blogs, so please name any down below if you have some suggestions for places to find fun post ideas like The Sunday Post!

Tentative plans are as follows:

  • Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas book review
  • Friday Reads (will post a video for this)
Also, please let me know if you would like voice recordings for blog posts in a podcast-ish format. I would like to make these blog posts as accessible as possible for readers. That being said, if you have any accessibility suggestions, please let us know below!
 
That wraps up today’s Sunday Post blog! 
 
I’m looking forward to checking out others and their posts later today! 
Excited to visit others in the book blogging community!
 
QOTD
 
When did you start blogging?
 
or
 
What types of book blog posts are your favourite?
(to read OR create)
 

Favourite Books of 2022, so far!

Hello, everyone! 

Olivia is deep in thought reminiscing about the year. 

And we are SUPER excited today to talk to you about our favourite books of each month from 2022! 

All books listed below are very good, but we do have a clear favourite. Let’s find out which one is our fav so far of the year! I’m so curious to know if this book will end up being my favourite at the end of 2022. It might be!

Book Title: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Author: James Baldwin

This is the love story between Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, and Fonny, a young sculptor and the father of their child.  Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and sent to prison soon after they are engaged. They must face an uncertain future ahead while as they attempt to clear Fonny of his name.

Why this book?

Here it is – this is our favourite book of the year! Are you as surprised as I am? I started off the year reading a lot of great books for our Hello 2022 Readathon, but as soon as I finished this book, I knew this book would be very hard to top. 

This book made me feel every emotion possible. It discusses very important themes such as race, police brutality, and injustic, and yet still at the heart of it, this book is a love story. I was deeply invested in Tish and Fonny’s story together – from childhood to adulthood. 

Favourite Quote

“Neither love nor terror makes one blind.
Indifference makes one blind.”
– James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

Book Title: Ace of Spades 

Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

In Ace of Spades, two of the highest achieving students at a prestigious private academy are the targets of personal attacks. However, these attacks are incredibly dark, twisted, and have the potential to disrupt or potentially even end their educational and professional ambitions. 

The question is: who is Aces? And what can be done to stop them from destroying Devon and Chiamaka’s dreams?

Why this book?

I read this book for our instagram buddy read of the month during February. This was such a good book that covered important themes, including: institutionalized racism, homophobia, and classicism. But it did more than that and was reminiscent to me of the film Get Out and the tv show Pretty Little Liars. 

Months later, I still think about this book, and I definitely recommend this as a must-read thriller.

Favourite Quote

“I didn’t invent this twisted system that pits us against each other and makes us do crappy things for status – but I do know how to play it.”
– Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Ace of Spades

Book Title: Night

Author: Elie Wiesel

This is a book everyone needs to read – it is book one of the Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel, who is a holocaust survivor and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. This book takes place during a dark time in history, when Elie and his family were taken from their home in Sighet, Transylvania in 1944 to Auschwitz concentration camp.

Why this book?

I just knew I would need to read this again at some point this year. 

Now reading this for the second time, I find myself drawn even further into Elie’s story and the connection he had with his father, family, and his belief system. 

There’s honestly not much more to say except: if you haven’t read this already, that needs to change. Soon.

Favourite Quote

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed …”
– Elie Wiesel, Night

Book Title: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café

Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

What would you do if you could time-travel to talk to a loved one and have closure? Would you do so? This is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. 

There are four stories within this collection from those seeking closure to move on with their lives following a visit to a special café.

Why this book?

I read this book for the Catathon Readathon for the prompt “read a book with a cat on the cover.” I knew that this was going to be an emotional read after reading the first book. However, this one tug even stronger on my heart strings and was so memorable. 

I’m looking forward to reading more in this series and recommend this series if you are looking for books that will have you reaching for the tissues box.

Favourite Quote

“At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn’t change.”
– Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café

Book Title: Beasts and Beauties: Dangerous Tales

Author: Soman Chainani

This is a collection of twelve classic retold by Soman Chainani including: Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. While grim (no pun intended), they are told in a way that will mystify and pack a punch the reader.

Why this book?

I read this book with Angie Henderson and we had such a great time revisiting old tales, now with a fresh perspective. We both enjoy reading retellings. 

You won’t want to miss reading Jack in the Beanstalk and Cinderella told with a twist! This is definitely for you if you enjoy short stories.

Favourite Quote

“Get too used to glorious sunsets and it is easy to blame the sun for stealing the clouds’ glory — but withhold the sun and there is nothing to see.”
– Soman Chainani, Beasts and Beauty


Book Title: Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, Volume 5

Author: Naoko Takeuchi

In this fifth volume of the infamous Sailor Moon manga series, the outer senshi are spotlighted and we get to learn about Sailor Pluto, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Neptune. 

Why this book?

When thinking of books to read for the Hello Spring/Autumn readathon, this was a clear winner! However, it took me longer to read this book than expected. I did not finish it until June and I’m so glad I did because it ended up being my favourite volume of the entire series! 

Read this if you are a fan of the Sailor Moon manga/anime and want to discover more about all the Sailor scouts!

That wraps up our favourite books of the year so far (by month!)

QOTD

What were your favourites? Let us know!