It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a great day with family and friends.

Christmas Eve Book Tag

Since I’m getting into the holiday spirit—and getting ready to take a break from blogging—I figured that I might as well participate in the Christmas Eve Book Tag some time before, you know, it’s actually Christmas and the year ends. Plus, I kind of enjoy these holiday themed tags. The questions are always fun.

This tag was created by Sam’s Nonsense over on Youtube. You can check out the original video HERE.

Christmas Eve morning: what is a book you wake up excited to read? One you anticipate reading or one you read in the past that you want to get back into?

One book that I want to get back into is This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith. I read it a couple of years ago, and would like to eventually reread it.

Christmas Eve breakfast: what are your favorite treats during the holiday season?

Oh man, this is an easy one. I really enjoy pumpkin and sweet potato pie, homemade French rolls and macaroni and cheese (not the box stuff). 

Family Time: What is a book that fills you with happiness and love? the warm fuzzies in general?

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters and Love Charms and Other Catastrophes—two of my favorite books. I adore this series for a number of reasons. Between Love being an actual character in the story to fortunes gone awry, what’s not to like? The characters had chemistry, and there were some incredibly cute moments that brought on all the fuzzy, heartwarming feels.

Christmas Carols: What are your favorite Christmas Carols or holiday songs?

I have too many favorite holiday songs to count on one hand—and I essentially did this for Music Monday, The Christmas Edition. So, to make it easier on myself, I’m going to just list a few of them at random: Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas, Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song, Michael Buble’s It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, and The First Noel and Joy To The World by Pentatonix.

Anticipation: What is a book release you are very much anticipating?

I’m really looking forward to Blueberry Pancakes Forever by Angelica Banks. Thankfully, the wait is almost over.

You hear sleigh bells on the roof and are so excited you can't sleep!: What is a book that kept you up all night?

Normally, after a certain time at night, I will put a book down even if I’m really enjoying it. However, The Reader by Traci Chee is one book that I stayed up late to finish. The book was engrossing, and I had a hard time stepping away from it. Before I knew it, it was around midnight, and I was done with the book.

It's Christmas morning, and Santa has come!: What is a book on your wishlist that you hope to unwrap?

Actually, all the books I’m currently looking forward to don’t come out until next year. So, I’m not expecting to find any books under the Christmas tree this year.

And that’s about it for today. If this seems like something you want to do then I tag you. Check out the original video to find the questions. Happy Reading!

Quick Announcement: Break Time

Well, it’s that time of year again. Christmas is literally right around the corner, and I’m ready for a break. So, I won’t be online much until 2017. Any posts that appear on the blog after this, were already written and ready to go. This is also the beginning of my meme hiatus. Posting will return to normal in the New Year. I will be around to answer comments, and occasionally on Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads, and Pinterest. Thanks for stopping by the blog. Happy reading!

**Andrea: I look forward to getting back to blogging on Our Thoughts Precisely in 2017. See you soon!**

Review: A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Title: A Shadow Bright and Burning
Author: Jessica Cluess
Source/Format: Blogging for Books; Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Random House BFYR; September 20, 2016

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

I am Henrietta Howel. The first female sorcerer. The prophesied one. Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames. When she is brought to London to train with Her Majesty's sorcerers, she meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, young men eager to test her powers and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her. As Henrietta discovers the secrets hiding behind the glamour of sorcerer life, she begins to doubt that she's the true prophesied one. With battle looming, how much will she risk to save the city--and the one she loves?

It took me around a week to finally sit down and write this review. That’s a long time in my book, but I needed the extra time to really think about what I read and what I wanted to say about it. A Shadow Bright and Burning wasn’t that bad of a book. However, it was just an average read for me.

There was nothing particularly bad about this story. It was fantasy set in a time period where women were expected to remain in certain roles. There was magic, a prophecy, and a main character who wasn’t the chosen one. The synopsis basically told me a lot about the plot. So when I actually got to that part of the book, I just kind of shrugged at Henrietta’s reaction because I was already expecting it.

Now, I did like that Henrietta wasn’t the prophesied one—as indicated in the synopsis. I feel like I haven’t seen enough of that, so it was a nice touch. Another thing I liked was the magic. For the most part, the magic was pretty cool. Henrietta was a pretty good character, but like the rest of the cast, she was just alright for me. I didn’t mind reading from her perspective, and there were parts of her personality and actions that were interesting.

The last couple of chapters of A Shadow Bright and Burning were the best, and my favorite part of the book. The story moved a lot quicker, there was action, and sufficiently surprising twists that were A+ in my opinion.

While A Shadow Bright and Burning had some great elements to it, there were some parts that weren’t as good. Still, the end left the characters in an interesting place, and I could kind of see hints of where this series could be headed. As such, I might consider picking up the next book.

This copy of the book was provided by Blogging for Books (Publisher) for this review, thank you!

About the author...

Jessica Cluess is a writer, a graduate of Northwestern University, and an unapologetic nerd. After college, she moved to Los Angeles, where she served coffee to the rich and famous while working on her first novel. When she's not writing books, she's an instructor at Writopia Lab, helping kids and teens tell their own stories...

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Music Monday (10) The Christmas Edition

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

It’s the 19th, which means that its time for the Christmas Edition of Music Monday. Yes! I have been waiting all month to do this post. So today, Adri and I are going to share some of our favorite holiday music.

Breana: My first pick this week is O Holy Night performed by Mariah Carey. I actually really like the entire Merry Christmas album, but O Holy Night is just so fantastic. Mariah Carey’s version is still one of my favorites. I grew up listening to this version of O Holy Night, so it's no wonder why I still enjoy listening to it every December.

My second pick this week is Carol of Bells sung by Pentatonix. It’s just so good! I also recommend checking out more of Pentatonix's holiday music.

Adri: Okay, so I like a lot of the Christmas songs, but for me this is the season of "I really don't want to get out of bed, its too cold!" As such, I like to listen to smoother songs. So here are two of the songs I'm listening to, but trust me, there is a lot more. I'm just not naming them.

My first selection is O Holy Night sung by Yolanda Adams. I never actually "found" this song, rather I've just been listen to it since the ipod shuffle 2nd gen (thanks mom).

For my final song, I'm going with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Kenny G. For me, this song is more of a recent find; however, I have listened to his other songs too. I find myself listening to this version when I want to get into a festive mood and relax.

What is some of the go-to music off your holiday playlist?