Hi everyone! We had a good reading week – we have now finished 9 NetGalley books for ARCathon! Our NetGalley feedback ratio is currently 87% (note: we started this readathon with a 75% feedback ratio). Finally, we are almost all caught up with our TBR game reads and only have two books left to complete.
NetGalley copies are designated as NG. These are provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley, all opinions are my own. ARCathon is hosted by Marti and Britt!
Hi everyone! Here are all of the books I’ve read this past week! (Please note that my Youtube Video extends beyond this past week. And I forgot to add a children’s book!). This one will be very brief – currently resting from a lower back injury, but recovering well. Enjoy!
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Stacy King (Adaptor), Crystal S. Chan (Contributor), Daria Rhodes (Lettering), and Kuma Chan (Illustrator). (NG)
Note: NetGalley copies are designated as NG. These are provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
These are our Friday reads which includes all of the books I’ve read since my last Recent Reads video. And guess what? We are doing the ARCathon, hosted by Marti and Britt! And trying to catch up to our July TBR reads (note: we’ve had to forward a couple of books and DNF one). I’ve included summaries of all books here for a quick glance. Make sure to watch the video below – it was a lot of fun to film with Olivia!
Content warnings links are included if listed on The Storygraph.
Always Never by Jodi Lafebre. This was a love story told in reverse over a long timespan – 40 years! Many people will love the story. I ended up not being a fan of the artwork and story as it progressed. Content warnings.
I am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume. A story narrated by a highly observant cat who has a witty take on the humans of the household, set in middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji Era. I found it challenging to read and review due to some of the subject matter within the book. Content warnings.
From Eve to Dawn: A HIstory of Women in the Worly by Marilyn French. This book was such an impressive historical account of women throughout history, beginning in prehistory to ancient Egypt, China, India, Peru, Mexico, Greece and Rome. Also, there is commentary of women’s relationship to various religions. Read this if you want to learn more about women’s issues told through a feminist lense.
Yasmin the Detective by Saadia Faruqi and Hatem Aly (Illustrator). Very cute book about a young girl named Yasmin who helps her grandmother find some missing items by using her detective skills. Lots of fun! There is a glossary in Urdu at the back of the book among other gems.
Lola and the New School by Keka Novales. Beautiful book about Lola who has just changed schools and is making friends. I loved the infusion of Guatemalan culture in this book. Excellent for young readers, with lots of activity and prompts in the book. Learn how to make the Abuelita’s limeade!
Shoo! by Susie Bower, Grancesca Gambatesa (Illustrator). This was beautiful picture book about a woman who has a new neighbour – a zoo! And the inhabitants really cause quite a caucus, so Mrs. Golightly has to figure out how to maintain the peace at home – or adapt. Funny, beautiful, and teaches about adapting to changes.
With the Right to Fight: Planting Peace by Anika Christopher. Wonderful story about a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Kenya who enriches the world by starting an initiative the lead to the planting of millions and millions of trees. Totally amazing, beautiful, poetic and amazing to read. Highly recommended.
A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria. Second chance romance Gabe (gym owner; Peurto Rican/Mexican heritage) and Michelle (freelancer and strategic marketer; Peurto Rico/Italian heritage). Gabe is set to start a new gym in NYC and his business partner unknowingly reaches out to Michelle who has a very complicated past with Gabe. It’s well written, it’s funny, it’s intense – a little too much for me at times haha but it was fun to read, overall! Content Warnings.
A Treacher Tale by Elizabeth Penney. Loving this so far! This is the second book in The Cambridge Bookshop Series in which our protagonist, Molly, owns a bookstore and learns that Iona York, author of The Strawberry Girls classic tales, lives closeby! She visits her cottage and discovers a dead body right beside her home! That is where I’ve left off in Chapter 1 and I can’t wait to see how Molly and company get to the bottom of this mystery.
The Kindest Lie by a Johnson. Enjoying this – reading for my July TBR Game! Speaking of which, I think I need to limit next month’s TBR game to five books because August is going to be full of books for ARCathon and catching up to last month’s TBR game. But we can do it! Olivia and I are up to the challenge. Content warnings.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken. Need to finish this for the July TBR game! I’ve mentioned this one before, it’s been described as a mixture between Greek Mythology and The Hunger Games. I’ve barely dug into this one and am starting to remember what it’s all about. Can give a deeper analysis next Friday! Content warnings.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero. Reading for ARCathon. This is beautiful and tells a story of a girl of a biracial Jewish girl who is sent away to stay with her aunt in Prague. She is torn between pursuing her parent’s wishes of having a stable career, for example in the sciences or medicine, and becoming a violinist. While she’s in Prague, she learns about a forgotten Jewish ancestry, encounters a ghost name Benjamin and also a man with no shadow, Rudolf Wassermann. This is beautifully written, every page feels like your being entranced by the author, and I’m enjoying it so much! Content warnings.
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
Title: Wildseed Witch
Author: Marti Dumas
Genre: Middle grade fantasy.
Format: E-book
Pages: 352
Source: NetGalley and Hoopla
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!
Title: Radium Girls
Author: Cy
Genre: Nonfiction graphic novel
Format: E-book
Pages: 136
Source: NetGalley
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!
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!
