Category Archives: currently reading

Review: A Court of Silver Fire by Sarah J Maas

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This series is about trauma and found family. It’s not an easy read but it’s also very engrossing read. I do love this series. The first three books focused on Feyre and her journey from human to High Fey. I’m not going to say she is over her trauma but thanks to Rhys and her new family she is in a much better place now then she was. Not something that can be said for her sisters, Nesta and Elain. In particularly, Nesta. This book focuses on Nesta and her trauma over the last few books and beyond. The eldest Archeron family, she was supposed to marry a Prince and continue to help rise the family but when misfortune struck her family she felt helpless and guilty that it was her youngest sister, Feyre that kept them fed. When she and Elain were brought into the Fey’s struggles and turned immortal by the Cauldran, Nesta’s troubles only got worst. She never had the opportunity to deal with the issues of her past life and then she’s thrown into a world strange to her and given more struggles to deal with it.

After the end of the war with Hybern, Feyre let Nesta to her own devices fearing that if she stepped in Nesta would just resent her but when Nesta continues to self destructs she finally can’t let it go on. She orders Nesta to train with Cassian in the morning and work in the library in the afternoon and live in the House of Wind. Nesta and Cassian have had a fiery relationship so it was only a matter of time before things really started to spark between them but this is not the relationship I want to talk about. Throughout the book she meets two other women. Gwyn, a priestess who also works in the library and Emerie, an Illiayrian with her own shop. Together they all train together and bond over their own personal traumas and become their own family. Gwyn and Emerie understand Nesta in a way that Feyre, Rhys and the others can not and she understand them too. It’s such a joy to see three women grow with each other and support each and lift each other up. They can just be themselves with each other as they all work through their own struggles. It’s not that female friendships are missing in this series, Feyre and Mor have a strong relationship but it was never the focal point like Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie are. I like reading strong female friendships and making it up front and center because it doesn’t happen very often. Even in YA novels that are mostly written by women. Friendships are usually secondary to the love line of the story. So yes, more female friendships.

This is such an incredible series because it has so many different elements of fantasy. Yes, it’s not always easy to read all the trauma that the characters have gone through but the characters in the story are well thought out and fleshed out. It’s worth the read for fantasy lovers out there.

What I’m Listening to Now: Being Lolita by Alisson Wood

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I went down a bit of a rabbit hole this week and listened to almost the entirety of Lolita Podcast. It’s made me want to re-read the book, but I realized that I only have it as an audiobook in the house and not a physical book. So, I thought, why not read…listen to… a recently published memoir by one of the folks Jamie Loftus interviewed on the podcast instead. So, I’ve picked up Being Lolita by Alisson Wood.

What I’m Reading Now: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

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It’s been a while since the last book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses came out. Now we are following Cassian and Nesta as the Night Court prepares for war once again.

What I’m Reading Now: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

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Diana and Matthew are back to the future. Haha I couldn’t help myself. I’m excited to have them reunited with the rest of the gang but devastated that one of them is already gone. How dare Deborah Harkness drop the news like that so casually. *tears*

Re-reads

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Since Beth and I set ourselves a summer challenge of re-reading the Twilight books (that neither of us completed), we are obviously not opposed to re-reads. I found out over Christmas that our Mother re-reads a book every year. It is the last book of a romance series in which a couple is getting married and all the couples from the previous books attend the wedding. I think, for her, it’s like checking on in old friends. I have, for the past few years, re-listened to the audiobook of the Hogfather. I enjoy it, but I also find myself, at the end of the year, thinking about Death giving a young girl a real sword for Hogswatch. (Perhaps it is that, around Yule, I am often doing a lot of grading and find myself thinking, “May this F be an important lesson to you.” I get pretty petty at the ends of semesters ;))

So, now I’m wondering: What do you re-read? What are your favorite worlds to revisit? What characters to you find yourself wanting to catch up with? And, do you catch up in other ways? Do you find yourself, instead of re-reading, diving into fan art/fan fiction? Let us know in the comments!

Our Favorite Books of 2020!

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Well 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year. Thank goodness it’s about to end. We’ve been pretty open with our struggles we had this year when it came to our reading lists. We didn’t read as much as we wanted and don’t have as many books to pick from. So this year we are going to do something different this year. Instead of picking our Top 5 or 10 books we are just going to list our favorite books we read this year. So here we go.

  1. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 – by Cho Nam-Joo This was such a powerful book to me. Like the main character Kim Jiyoung. I was also born in 1982 and can identify with so many of her struggles. The fact that she is Korean and I am American just goes to show how alike we are all no matter where we are from. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
  2. Deathless Divide – by Justina Ireland The sequel of Dread Nation about a Zombie apocalypse after the US Civil War. In this one we see more the aftermath of what happened and the hardships they all have to endure. Jane is the best protagonist. She’s funny, strong, and damaged but she never gives up. She’s who we all would want if a zombies ever attack and considering how 2020 went, I’m surprised they didn’t. (Beth don’t jinx it)
  3. The King of Crows – by Libba Bray The final book in The Diviner’s series was ever the sweeping epic I wanted it to be. It brought all of them together and made them all work together to defeat the King of Crows. The sad thing about this series is how so many of the problems of the 1920’s are still too relevant today. Racism, poverty war and greed all played a part in the novels and the last couple of years. I’m truly going to miss all of these characters.
  4. Midnight Sun – by Stephenie Meyer Controversial choice I know because I wasn’t very kind to it or to Edward and Bella. It has not aged well and I’ll never read it again but It was kinda fun to reminisce back to a time when I loved these books and when I was excited to go see the movies in theaters. (Remember when we could do that?) No matter what I feel about the now, I’ll always be grateful to them and Stephenie Meyer because they introduced me to a whole new genre of books that I probably wouldn’t have sought after before. So yes, It wasn’t a good book but it brought back some good memories.
  5. There’s Something about Sweetie by Sandhya Menon Sweetie is an awesome main character. Her development is amazing. The romance is adorable. I totally forgot I had read that one.
  6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz This was such a beautiful novel about a friendship between two teenagers. I loved it so much. It broke my heart and lifted me up. It was just so great. Plus, Lin Manuel Miranda reads the audiobook.
  7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro This novel was so horrifying. The quiet romance that hid the dark realities that Ishiguro created in the novel made it such an amazing piece of speculative fiction. I was so disturbed by it.
  8. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness The world building here is neat and I’m interested in where the story is going. I didn’t read a whole lot this year, but this one did get me into the sequel. So, even though there are things that definitely annoy me, I am adding it to the list.