The Birthday Book Tag

Yes, yes today is my birthday and that is why I decided to do this tag. I was wondering which tag to do for this blog post and since it’s my birthday I thought to look up some birthday themed tags. I found this tag over on The Bibliophile Girl’s blog who found it on Bionic Book Worm’s blog. The original creator of this book tag is Antonia by Always Books. I tried searching for her blog so I can link it for you guys to check it out but was unable to find it. So without any more delays, let’s hop in to the tag. 

Birthday Cake: A book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway

For this question I’ll go with In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead simply because I was unable to tear my eyes from the pages and read the book way past the night. You guys should really give this book a shot. It’s going to hook you from the first page and won’t let go until the end. 

Party Guests: Your most anticipated book release this year

I don’t normally have anticipated book releases but if I have to pick I’d go with the House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas. This is book 2 in the Crescent City series. I loved the first book and I’m glad the second book is out though I have yet to read it. 

Birthday Presents: A book that surprised you with how much you loved it

For this prompt I’m choosing Insanity by Cameron Jace. I knew what I was getting into but I was still surprised how much I really enjoyed this book and the sequel. There are more books in the series which I intend to read in the future, but this was a beautiful surprise. 

The Happy Birthday Song: A book that certainly deserved all the hype it got

This was a little tricky for me since I kind of live in my own timeline and don’t really follow trends. But I decided to go with One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. The mystery, the plot twist and the suspense is all so worth it. Everyone should read this book once in their life. 

Happy Music: A book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes

This is a pretty simple and a cliche one but I’d go with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for this prompt. He is an amazing author and this book is a best seller in the world. Not to mention that this book contains lots of fantastic quotes that one can use in his or her daily life. 

Getting Older: A book that you read a long time ago, but you think that you would appreciate it more if you read it as a more mature reader

This is an easy one. For this prompt I’m choosing The Power Of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. My father got this book to read but he never read it. And me being an eleven year old bookworm decided to read this book because I had nothing else to read, and I’m going to be honest I did not understand a single word in the book. So I think if I give this book a shot now, when I’m a lot older, I’ll be able to understand it and appreciate it better. 

Sweet Birthday Memories: A book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

There are a lot of books that can fit this prompt but I decided to go with Wandering Star by Romina Russell. This is book 2 in the Zodiac series and follows the story of the twelve zodiac signs. I enjoyed book 1 and this book just added on to the excitement and adventure of the first book. 

So there you have it. The Birthday Book Tag. I tag everyone who wants to do this tag, and all those interested in books, and if it’s your birthday, then happy birthday to you. 

Books for a Taurus

I know, I know I’m a little late for this post since Gemini started already but I had to make this post as we cannot ignore our beloved Taurus and recommend some books to them. So without further ado, here are the books I would recommend a Taurus to read. 

Bared to You by Sylvia Day

This is book 1 in the Crossfire series—a fairly popular series by a fairly well known author and follows our two main characters Eva and Gideon Cross—a rich businessman with a haunted past. It doesn’t take long for the two to fall in love and realize that they’d go to to any extent for each other. 

I chose this book as a recommendation due to a Taurus’ expression of luxury. When you think of a Taurus, the idea of luxury and fine dining comes to mind and there are plenty of moments of fine dining and depictions of luxury in this book and that is why I’m recommending this book. 

This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Following the theme of luxury and decadence we have our second recommendation. This Man is book 1 in the series by the same name and follows Ava and Jesse Ward as they navigate their feelings and desires for one another while Ava tries to make sure she doesn’t completely lose her individuality to Jesse. 

Luxury and decadence is one of the core themes of this series along with the heated and passionate romance between Ava and Jesse, so I thought it would be perfect for a Taurus. I, for one, really enjoyed this series and since I’m a Taurus rising, I did enjoy the wealth and decadent moments in this book series. 

Debt Inheritance by Pepper Winters

Okay, the only reason I put this book in this recommendations post is because this book has diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds. This is book 1 in the Indebted series by Pepper Winters and follows Jethro Hawk and Nila Weaver who are bound to hate each other due to their bloodlines. Nila is supposed to be nothing but a debt to fulfill for Jethro Hawk, but Jethro never expected to fall for Nila. And so begins a catastrophic storm of family debt and romance that really makes this series a rollercoaster ride, with a lot, and I mean, a lot of diamonds. 

Diamonds are a symbol of wealth and luxury and that is what makes a Taurus so special. They’re not afraid to indulge and splurge, and this book really is an indulgence. 

The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby

This is book 1 in the Wine Country Mysteries and follows Lucie Montgomery who is forced to go back to her country home due to the death of her father, giving her the perfect excuse to get away from her ex boyfriend and focus on herself. However, when she gets there she realizes that her father was murdered rather than dying a natural death and she decides to investigate his murder, eventually leading to the killer. 

When talking about fine dining and luxury, this book is surrounded by vineyard and wine. I especially loved the information sprinkled between pages regarding the process of making wine and let’s not ignore the different kinds of wine presented in this book. That is why I think this book would be exciting for a Taurus. 

Champagne Showers by Adler

Since we’re focusing on wine, champagne is one of the high quality wine and people often drink it in times of celebration and parties which is something our Taurus signs excel at, and that this why we have this book on this list. 

This is book 1 in the Glass Towers series and follows Danielle and Harrison as their relationship blossoms despite the fact that Danielle does not wish to be in a relationship due to getting out of a terrible one, but secretly wishes for a fairytale romance, while Harrison does not care and wants Danielle to be his. But all that glitters is not gold, and Danielle soon discovers that despite the wealth and power that Harrison possesses, their relationship would require much more than whispered promises and heated kisses in order to be stable. 

Champagne, wealth and power, what more does a Taurus want? This book contains all that and much more, so I think this book is a good fit for this list. 

So there we have it. These are my recommendations for the sign of Taurus. Do you agree with my recommendations? Is there any book you wished was on this list? Have you read any of the books mentioned here? Let me know in the comments and I’ll try my best to post the recommendations for Gemini before the season is over. 

Book Review: Killing November by Adriana Mather

Date of Publishing: March 26th, 2019

Author: Adriana Mather

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

This is book 1 in the series by the same name and follows November who’s father enrolls her in a school known as Academy Absconditi, a boarding school full of secrets and hidden agendas. For a girl who’s lived a normal life, Academy Absconditi is a completely new world and something she has a hard time navigating. But when your very existence is threatened and you realize that your entire life has been a lie, November has no choice but to fight for her survival and show the other students that she’s no underdog. 

I don’t have words for this book. This book blew my mind away. It kept me hooked from the first word till the last. The pacing, the storyline, the characters, and the climax everything was just perfectly executed. 

Academy Absconditi is a school I wished existed in real life. An academy that educates you in knife throwing and espionage is my kind of a school and I would love to be a student there. Learning the ways of the Strategia and following complicated bloodlines, this book is colored with intrigue. I actually wish I was a character in this book. 

Dark academia is a genre I’ve been wanting to get into for some time now and I’m so glad that I started with this book because now I’m now even more excited to dive deeper into this genre and get a better understanding of it so I can finally work on writing my own dark academia novel. 

The characters in this book were fleshed out to perfection. I loved each and everyone, with their complicated flaws and thirst for power, it really gives you an idea of just how crazy people can be. I loved Ash and Laila and how despite wanting to stay away they still help November battle through the onslaught of allegations and murder attempts. And in a place like Academy Absconditi one needs allies. However, what I liked about these characters is how morally gray they were. I love gray characters and Adriana Mather has done a stunning job of fleshing them out as such. These students do questionable things for the right reasons—at least they’re right according to them and that’s what makes them so exciting to read about. 

Moreover, the importance given to family and your lineage is an intriguing element in this series. The school might be for a particular age group, but your bloodline really spans generations and really has an impact on a student’s position in the school. So I like how the author has included this flavor, which is the perfect way to induce rivalry and enmity among the students. 

The climax was brutal and packed a punch. I kind of had a hunch who the villain was but wasn’t entirely sure, however, when the culprit did come to light I was excited and blown away at the same time; especially when his reasons for doing what he did were revealed, it just made me want to go back and read the book all over again. And the climax made way for the perfect ending with November wanting to go to her father and find out the truth about the events of her past and the past of the Strategia. 

Adriana Mather really knows how to portray relationships and with Ash and November, the relationship really is a challenge as they have to navigate through the history of their respective bloodlines and figure out if they really should be together. Loyalty is hard to come by when your own family can be out to kill you, so reading about their relationship was a roller coaster in itself. 

I am really excited to read the second book in the series. The only thing I’m sad about is that there are only two books in this series instead of seven or eight. I feel like no matter how much I read about this world of the Strategia I’ll never get enough, so it’s sad that I’d have to say goodbye to these character and this exciting world in the next book. I wish the author writes more books like this and I hope I can write as well as she does. And of course I would be reading the rest of the books written by Adriana Mather in the future. 

As for recommending this book to people, I literally want everybody to go and pick this book up. Everybody should read this book at least once in their life if not again and again. So pick up your copy of Killing November if you haven’t already and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. 

April Reading Wrap Up

Target: 6

Read: 8

I did manage to reach my goal for the month of April and managed to read two more books on top of it, but only because my goal for the month was a lot smaller than it’s ever been, so it was easy for me to reach. Anyway, here’s my wrap up or the books I read in April. 

Fate’s Dice by V. Domino

This is book 1 in the Chicago’s Finest series by V. Domino, and follows our two main characters known as Dice and Leo who happens to be the Mafia Don of Chicago. Despite being a normal girl and coming from a somewhat normal background, Dice’s life takes a not-so-normal turn when she meets Leo who is robbing the cafe she works at. Things heat up between them in more ways than one, making Dice question whether Fate’s roll of dice would lead to her happily ever after or not.

Okay. Let me start by saying I did not like this book, like at all. I’ve read another book by this author previously and I did not enjoy that either, but this book was just too much for me. It was too fast-paced for me and not to mention the insta love that takes place between the  protagonists. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with fast paced stories and considering that this is a standalone as the other books in the series would be featuring different couples, I can understand why they both fall in love with each other so quickly, but even so, I did not enjoy the instant attraction and how the hero is just so perfect. I don’t like perfect characters, I think I’ve said that a little too much, but Leo was just too much for me and I just couldn’t stand him by the end of the book. 

I do love dark romance but this book did not reach the mark, so I didn’t enjoy reading this book and I’m just glad I was able to finish it and not DNF it even though I had to practically force myself to reach the end. 

But if you guys like stories where the characters fall in love in the first five chapters, then you guys can give this book a shot, but for me this was a big no and I’m not sure if I’ll be reading any more books by this author. 

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Black 

This is the book 1 in the series by the same name and follows Pip who is trying to solve the murder of Andie Bell, a girl who died five years ago due to mysterious circumstances. Though Andie’s boyfriend, Salil Singh had been labeled as the murderer, Pip doesn’t believe it and sets out to find the truth for herself with the help of Ravi Singh, who happens to be Sal’s brother. 

I had so much fun reading this book and I just couldn’t put it down. I loved how there are different formats in the book, which gives us a visual of how things are happening with Pip’s investigation. Even though, she’s doing all this for a school project, I can’t help but envy her because I would love to do something like this for my school project, but alas, cool stuff like this doesn’t happen in my life, so I have no choice but to live vicariously through books. 

Also, I loved the climax and the shocking turn of events that transpired in the novel. I always enjoy a good detective story and this really is one of the good ones out there. I highly recommend you check this book out if you haven’t already and I’m pretty sure that the rest of the books in the series will be just as amazing as this one. 

Night by Ellie Wiesel

This story follows our main character in the midst of Nazi rule and how he’s forced to watch his family and everybody else he knows be punished or killed in the most of brutal of ways right in front of his eyes. The book is a story told by the boy’s perspective about how the Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis and no matter how much time passes, the wounds of those injuries will just never heal. 

Let me tell you guys, this is not the first story I’ve read about the Nazi invasion and how the Jews suffered because of them; I’ve read a few before this one, but no matter how many books I read, it never gets any easier. The pain is always there, and it was there with this story as well. I nearly cried when I read about innocent children being burned alive and men being shot and beaten just for breathing. There was so much suffering and heartache in this story that I couldn’t help but send a prayer to those who lost their lives because they chose to follow a certain faith.

Do give this story a read whether you’re into non-fiction or not. I believe everybody needs to educate themselves on right and wrong and when you witness something wrong, then you’re able to stand up for what’s right. 

Killing November by Adriana Mather

Can I just say, Holy Sh*t! This book was epic!! I think it’s my favorite so far of the year and I can’t believe I took so long into reading this. I wish I’d read it sooner but then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of reading it now, this book is that amazing!! 

This book follows November who is enrolled into Academy Absconditi under mysterious circumstances and forced to act and behave in a way that is completely opposite her. A place surrounded by secrets and where you die if you don’t fight for your survival, it’s a place most would dread but is a place that breeds that best of the Strategia. And November wants to find out why she’s here and most importantly, who wants to kill her? 

Everything about this book was perfect. The plot, the characters, the pacing, the writing style, everything was spot on. I loved every word, swooned over every sentence and devoured every paragraph. I never wanted this book to end; I wish it would go on forever, but there is a sequel so I’m glad I’ll get to read more of November and Ash. 

Dark academia is a genre I’ve been wanting to get into for a while now and this book was the perfect starter as I believe this book falls under the same genre. And I can’t wait to read more books in this genre. And I just want to thank Adriana Mather for writing this book and sharing this gift with us. 

Lock In by John Scalzi 

Sci-Fi is not a genre I like to read, mainly because I’m not a crazy fan of technology and artificial intelligence. I prefer humans to robots and always will. So this is book 1 in the series of the same name and follows what seems to be a pandemic in the future where patients of Haden’s Syndrome experience Lock In, where the body is completely paralyzed, leaving you with nothing but an active brain. Bring in the technology and you have machines with the minds of humans. 

The story follows Chris Shane who suffered from Haden’s Syndrome and now manages his life via a threep and is an FBI agent assigned to a case which initially appears to be full of confusion and holes. With a partner who spends half her time drinking and sleeping around, the two embark on the task to solve the murder. 

I’m not going to lie, it took me a while to get into this story simply because me and technology don’t get along very well. And there was so much technical vocabulary used that it nearly made my head spin. However, as the story progressed I started to understand how the world and the people living in it worked and by the end I really enjoyed it. The ending and the climax was amazing. The way the writer provided us with the information as the protagonist figured out who the killer was, was just fascinating. 

So even though it’s not a genre that I normally reach for, I recommend you guys to check out this book and give it a read. It’s really interesting. And I will definitely be reading the next books in the series.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

This is book 1 in the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger and though I was excited to finally get into this book, I realized it kind of fell short of my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the book, I just expected more from it.

The story follows Sophronia—a young girl of fourteen—as she is recruited to a finishing school after her mother gets tired of her and her troublesome ways and decides that a finishing school would be perfect for Sophronia and teach her to act like a proper lady. However, Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is no ordinary finishing school and teaches you much more than dancing and fixing your posture. Supernatural creatures lurk in the midst of the academy along with a prototype that threatens the lives of everyone present in the school, making our curious main character eager to know about it and put a stop to the attacks from the enemy. 

My excitement over reading this book was at an all time high, however, it diminished as I continued reading the book. I expected more action and drama from this book but it only involved the search for a prototype. I get that it’s the first book in the series and there’s probably more action and drama in the upcoming books, but I just wished the author added a little more spice into the book. However, I still really enjoyed this book and loved the fact that such a finishing school exists—even if it’s fiction—and would highly recommend you all to read this book if you haven’t already. 

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

This is book 1 in The Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo and follows the story of an empress who has a knack for fortunes as she tells her tale to her handmaiden, Rabbit. The story is short, not like your typical 300-400 page fantasy novel, and is packed with a tale few can tell. 

Okay, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t really understand what happened in this book. Perhaps I was distracted by the ten thousand things around me or I am just not smart enough to understand the complexity of this book, but it was difficult for me to follow along. However, one thing I did enjoy was reading about the empress’ love for fortunes and every time there was a mention of fortune, my eyes would perk up and I would want to know just how they read fortunes back in the day. 

This book may have flew over my head but that does not mean it’ll fly over yours, so do give this book a read if you’re looking to read a short fantasy book or just find this book interesting. 

Wandering Star by Romina Russell 

This is book 2 in the Zodiac series by Romina Russell and follows Rhoma Grace as she continues her journey of finding the thirteenth constellation and battling a new set of enemies, all the while doing her best to maintain the harmony between the twelve house and taking on the grand task of uniting the zodiac. 

I really enjoyed book 1 in this series and I really enjoyed this book as well. There was a right amount of tension and action along with the plot twist and the climax, it was all incredibly spot on. I enjoyed everything about this book, even the parts that were hard to read, like the torture and destruction that takes place, but it was worth it. I recommend everyone to read this book, so they can experience the roller coaster which I experienced at the hands of this book. 

So these are the eight books I read in the month of April. I wish I could’ve read more, but this was all I could manage. Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what do you think about them.