Monday, January 18, 2021

Music Monday (144): Tayla Parx, Idris Elba, Boys World

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 
Breana: Over my break from blogging, I got caught up on some of the albums I initially missed in 2020. One of them was Coping Mechanisms by Tayla Parx. I enjoyed this album (more on that later on a separate post), and one of my favorite songs from it is Dance Alone.


Adri: Thanks to Youtube recommendations, I found a new group called Boys World. Needless to say, their new song called Girlfriends is stuck in my head.


Andrea: This Music Monday post is my first post of 2021. I hope that everyone is doing well, and I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year. You can only guess that one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more active on the blog. With that said, I would like to share what I am listening to this week. I came across a newly released song, Paradise Circus-Gospel 21, by Idris Elba. I don't follow Idris Elba, so I was unaware that he could sing. I was pleasantly surprised by his new songIt's so relevant to the past year. Well, that's it for now. Have an amazing week!Andrea



What are you listening to this week?



Tuesday, January 12, 2021

ARC Review: Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert

Title: Tales from the Hinterland
Series: The Hazel Wood # 2.5

Author: Melissa Albert
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy; Short Stories
Publisher/Publication Date: Flatiron Books; January 12, 2021

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Target

Synopsis from Goodreads...
A gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve original stories by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country

Before The Hazel Wood, there was Althea Proserpine’s Tales from the Hinterland... Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice—and still lives. Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans alike, Melissa Albert's Tales from the Hinterland features full-page illustrations by Jim Tierney, foil stamping, two-color interior printing, and printed endpapers

Stories lie at the heart of The Hazelwood duology. After all, much of the story in The Hazelwood and The Night Country revolved around Alice, an ex-story trying to figure out her life. Tales From The Hinterland is a collection of short, fairy tale like stories from that universe. Some of them I don’t recall having read before and others are recognizable because they were already featured in the duology or because of their characters—who should be relatively familiar by now. Some of those stories deeply impacted the events of the duology (such as the story Alice-Three-Times). Many of the stories in this collection follow the trend of darker fairy tales full of magic and hidden dangers. The writing was atmospheric and engrossing. The setting was vivid in its detail, and the endings were often reflective of the cautionary and somewhat morose tone to the stories. Be careful what you wish for never had a truer meaning than in some of these stories.

As with all story collections, I had my favorites out of the bunch. I liked all of them, but some of the standouts were Death and the Woodwife, Hansa the Traveler, and The House Under the Stairwell to name a few. All I can say is that these were truly stories fit for Hinterland.

If you liked the duology, then you’ll likely enjoy Tales From The Hinterland.

About the author....

Melissa Albert is the founding editor of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog and the managing editor of BN.com. She has written for McSweeney’s, Time Out Chicago, MTV, and more. Melissa is from Illinois and lives in Brooklyn. The Night Country is her second novel.


Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Flatiron Books) via NetGalley for this review, thank you!

Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year! It's 2021!

Happy New Year! 2020 is finally over, and 2021 is here. We’re not back to blogging just yet, but we’ll see you later in the month. Have a great day!



Sunday, December 27, 2020

Break Notice...

It's that time of year again when we take an extended break from blogging. We'll still be around on Instagram, Twitter, goodreads, and on the blog to answer any comments. See you all in the New Year!


Friday, December 25, 2020

The Cookie Book Tag (Round 3)

 


It's December 25th, so Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a great day. The year is almost over, and today we're going to do a book tag. It has been a year to the day since Adri and I participated in the Cookie Book Tag for the second time. And today, we're going to do it again to see how our answers do and don't differ. Before we begin, here are the more technical details about the tag.

The Cookie Book Tag was created by Nicole @ Sorry, I’m Booked. And you can check out the original tag post here: Sorry, I’m Booked, The Cookie Book Tag.

The rules…
  • Link back to the person who tagged you + the creator of this tag 
  • Pick a book that corresponds with the cookies theme 
  • Have fun 
  • Tag 1-3 people

Chocolate Chip: A Classic Book That You Love or Really Enjoyed (interpret classic how you want, it can be a classic written 100 years ago or 20 years ago)

Breana: It may be 10 years shy of 20 years, but I'm going to go with Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. It came out in 2010, and it's one of my all-time favorite novels. It's also one of the first general fantasy books I picked up around the time my reading tastes were changing.

Adri: I have a Barnes & Noble edition, which includes The Invisible Man and The Time Machine. I finished reading The Time Machine around two years ago. This year, I just now completed The Invisible Man. It was a wild story. 

Thin Mints: A Fandom That You Really Want to ‘Join’ AND/OR a Hyped-Up Book You Want To Read (your source(s) of a book being hyped can be from anywhere)

Breana: I'm still waiting for A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney. The Nightmare-Verse is currently one of my favorite series, and I can't wait to get my hands on the conclusion to the story.

Adri: The Shadows by Alex North has been out for some time, but I was never really sure if I wanted to read it. However, when I saw an interview with the author from BookBub--which mentioned lucid dreaming--I became intrigued. And now I want to read it. 

Shortbread: An Author You Can’t Get Enough Of

Breana: I have two choices for this one: Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Jun Mochizuki. I've really been enjoying Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas. It's one of my favorite takes on vampires, and the world building for the series is just fantastic. I've also read two of Garcia's books so far (Gods of Jade and Shadow and Mexican Gothic), and I've enjoyed both of them. There are a number of other books by the author that are still on my TBR list. 

Adri: My choice is the late Mary Higgins Clarke. I've already read Remember Me, but we have quite a few of her books around the house. I've been meaning to read them but never got around to it. I look forward to when I can get my hands on them.

Samoas/ Caramel DeLites: An Emotional Rollercoaster (this cookie was hard … so any book that made you feel more than one emotion, strongly. The choice of emotions is up to you)

Breana: I know Jelly by Clare Rees doesn't come out until May next year, but I had so many feelings while reading this book. My review will explain it, but it won't be up on the blog until its closer to the release date.  

Adri: Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett. As I said before, one look at the description will tell you why.

Oreos: A Book Whose Cover Was Better Than The Story OR Vice Versa, Where The Story Was Better Than Its Cover

Breana: I really liked the first cover for The Sisters of Straygarden Place, and the second one is just fine. The story though is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Adri: I don't dislike the cover for Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold. I feel like in contrast to its simplicity, the contents of the book are definitely more interesting. 

Tagalongs/ Peanut Butter Patties: A Book That Wasn’t What You Expected (good, bad, or just different, interpret how you wish)

Breana: Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha was surprising in a good way, and it renewed my interest in post-apocalyptic stories.

Adri: The Complete Book of Fashion Illustration by Sharon Lee Tate and Mona Shafer Edwards. There were no preview images when I purchased this book, and I looked really hard for them too. Since it was a used book, I really didn't know what I would get. However, I've come to love it and have been using it to practice a different art style from my usual. 

Snickerdoodles: A Book You May Never Stop Rereading/ Loving

Breana: I have two for this one. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. In terms of series conclusions, this book is one of my top favorites. The same could also be said about Ann Leckie's Ancillary Mercy.

Adri: I will never stop rereading Victorian Fashions & Costumes From Harper's Bazar 1867-1898 edited by and with an introduction by Stella Blum. Note: the cover is in shambles..... **Update: the cover fell off while writing this....***

Bonus: Choose a cookie I didn’t list and make up a question!

Our question from 2018: Monster Cookies have bold flavors and a long and varied list of ingredients such as M&Ms, chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, and even sometimes raisins. It’s like a handful of cookie types mashed into one monster of a cookie. So… Monster cookie: name a book with a bold and whimsical title or a book title with four or more words.

Breana: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark.

Adri: Dreamscapes Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid worlds with Watercolor by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.


That's about it for today. We tag you to do the cookie book tag to see how your answers differ (if you've done it before). If you're curious about our original take on the tag and our second try at it visit the post HERE and HERE

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