Of Butterflies and Books

October Wrap-Up Stats Books read: 25 Books to be read later (TRL): 9 DNFs: 4 Physical books: 12 E-Books: 4 Audiobooks: 10 Rereads: 16 5-star books: 17 4-star books: 3 3-star books: 1 3.5: 1  2-star books: 1 1-star books: 2 Avg. Rating: 4.3 star rating  Avg. Page Count: 239.78 pages Avg. Hours Listened to: 11.7 hours  Highlights of the Month:                                                                   The Woman in Me by Britney Spears Roll-overs for the Month:  Frankenstein by Mary Shelly  The Court of the Underworld Collection I (Books 1-4) by Alessa Thorn Glory and The Master of Shadows by Grace Callaway

I had a feeling this was going to be an intense read given the source material and everything Britney Spears has gone through throughout the course of her life, but I never expected half the horrific, frankly is one of the only words that come to mind aside from heartbreaking and towards the end hopeful. I listened to this book through the audiobook, narrated by actress, Michelle Williams. If you end up listening to the audiobook, Britney Spears does include a brief message about why she chose not to narrate this book herself. This book starts from the very early years of Britney's life and family's dynamic. It, of course, covers the timeline of her career, and the horrendous trauma she's faced at the hands of people in her life trying to make her do and say what they wanted all to further themselves in the limelight. It just sickens me what was done to her. Through all the trauma and betrayal she's faced in her life, I love how Britney by her own words still somehow fo...

  November TBR         It's hard to believe it's here, but November is upon us which means it's time for my November TBR.           I have two TBR games that help me get through my endless TBR. The first game is one I've named Shuffle. I use playing cards and assign general prompts to each suit's numbered cards, including 1 high-ranked card such as the King, Queen, Jack, Ace, and the Joker. I use the Joker as a wild card, if I choose to, I can replace a prompt that was picked with the prompt assigned to the Joker unless I'm not able to because if I don't complete the current month's TBR. I also have an additional part of my TBR game: for every 2 books read, I give myself 1 book credit for a future book purchase.          The books I have for this month for this TBR game are: Heart of a Monster by Shain Rose  Franklin by Billie Lustig  Pawn's Gambit by Rob J. Hayes  The Princess and the R...

            I was so excited to receive a copy of this book in a giveaway. I've really enjoyed this series and it's made me a fan of Ashley Herring Blake. Set against the backdrop of a play of  "Much Ado About Nothing". Iris is distrustful of relationships given what happened to her but the moment she meets Stevie things begin to change. Stevie is not only trying to convince her mutual friends with her ex-girlfriend she's okay, but she also comes up with a plan with Iris; she and Iris will fake so she can get her friends off her back and so Iris can get some inspiration for her latest romance novel. It should be no problem; however, seeing each other and getting to one another every day because of the play makes both of them realize this fake relationship is becoming less and less fake and more real than anything they'd ever felt before.                    I really enjoyed this final book in t...

     Hello, my fellow readers. It's that time again when I'm going to attempt another reading challenge. For this challenge, I've decided to choose a specific trope within the romance genre that is honestly one of my favorites which is contemporary royal romance. If anyone is unsure or unfamiliar with this trope it's pretty much what it says where it is a romance that is centered around some aspect of fictional, modern-day royalty. I can't wait to see what books I end up picking up for this challenge and sharing them with you all.  Are you a fan of the contemporary royal romance trope? What are some of your favorite books featuring this romance trope?

  Hello, my fellow readers. Well, I hate to say it, but this is another reading challenge I was not able to complete yet again. This challenge resulted in two DNFs and an ebook collection I've  started but didn't finish.  Both of these books just didn't grab me with the writing style.  However, even though I haven't finished the first book in this collection, I've been enjoying my time finally getting to Alessa Thorn's collection of their Court of the Underworld series. If you're a fan of Katee Robert's Dark Olympus series, I suggest giving this one a try as well. 

  I don't feel I'm exaggerating when I say this has been one of, if not, my most anticipated read of 2023. The Darker Shade of Magic series is at the very least my Top 5, if not, the Top 3 series I've ever read so when I heard this book was going to be a reality I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.                                                      This book takes place several years after the events of The Darker Shade of Magic series, where we're both introduced to new and old characters. I feel V.E. Schwab does a great job of keeping you on your toes when it comes to this new installment set in this world. I will say one thing I may have struggled with at certain moments during this book, not the entire time, but some of the time was the multiple POVs. As I mentioned, there are many ...

     Hello, my fellow readers. It's the Halloween season, my favorite! For this season, I had a great idea for another reading challenge. This time, I'm going to be reading monster/paranormal books for 24 hours. However, I will add an extra layer to this challenge. I'm going to put this list I've made below in a random generator and it will help me choose what I will be reading within the 24-hour window and every time I complete a book I'll spin the wheel to see what I'll be reading next.  Miscellaneous   Vampire Werewolves Shifters Witches Ghosts  Fae Gods/Goddesses Dragons MerPeople Anthologies Orc Gargoyles Angels Demons Reapers Let me know if you'll be participating in this challenge with me. Which one of these paranormal beings and/or kinds of books are your favorite to read about? 

 I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'm always fascinated when I find a new book that blends more than one genre within its plot. This is a historical romance with paranormal/fantasy elements.  This story follows Miss Josie Bell, a witch, tasked with finding and apprehending a rogue demon. This should be like any other day for Josie, except she's assigned to work with Lachlan Connor Daire MacKeane, a Lycan. It's not that I necessarily disliked this book, it was more just nothing stuck out to me. I was intrigued by the book blurb, but the writing/characters didn't interest me much, and I ended up giving it 1 star, but just because I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean other readers will feel the same.  

           Hello, my fellow readers. Well, the results are in and unfortunately, I couldn't read the number of pages I wanted for this challenge, but it was a fun challenge and I do hope to do more on this blog in the future, if not very soon. Now, while I wasn't able to read the amount I wanted to I still was able to finish a couple books that have been on my list to read not only this month in particular, but I was able to read books that went towards some other goals I have and hope to complete before the end of this year.               One of the books I read for this challenge was a reread of The Year of the Witching  by Alexis Henderson with 359 pages. I enjoyed this reread I originally gave this book 3 stars. I feel I'm sticking with that rating or updating it to 3.5 stars. I love Alexis Henderson's writing and I think this an excellent. For me, though the second half isn't as strong as the first, ag...

None of This is True Lisa Jewell      Alix Summer is the host of a popular podcast and one night she crosses paths with a woman named, Josie Fair. At first, she is slightly put off when she's approached again by this woman who has an idea for a new podcast series. Alix hesitantly agrees, but she thinks Josie's story could be the making of her career especially when she begins to share the disturbing details of the life she says she's been trying to escape.        I am a fan of Lisa Jewell's writing style. Her plots always have you guessing while everything within the plot is unfolding and as you're trying to figure out not only what Plot A and Plot B are usually going on within the storyline are going to be but how they relate to each other. This story was no different in that department. However, while it quite literally was a classic Lisa Jewell novel, for me, I almost felt like I knew at least something to the degree that happened was going to happe...

      Hello, my fellow readers. I love setting reading goals for myself. This week I've decided to set a reading challenge where I set up a random number generator and had it determine how many pages I'm going to try to read within a week.  I'm interested to see what books I'll be able to get through and if I'll be able to reach my goal.  Do you like setting reading challenges for yourself, my fellow readers? What challenges have you set for yourself lately?

 Hello, my fellow readers, you know that feeling when you discover a new favorite book, author, or genre? I think the only better or could come as close as that is when you rediscover your love for one or all of those things. Recently, I have been rediscovering how much I love historical romance. Thanks to the power of read-a-thons and my monthly TBR games I have had the opportunity to reread some of the series that made me fall in love with historical romance in the first place, but I've also had the opportunity to discover some newly found favorites.  The series that I had an opportunity to reread was Sarah MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards series.       If these gorgeous covers by themselves weren't enough to make anyone want to read these books, these books feature some of the most well-written, well-rounded female characters I've read in historical romance to date. Not only that, but they also have the most cinnamon rolls of all cinnamon rolls when i...

     Hello, my fellow readers. I'm so excited to be starting my new blog.  Here I'll be talking about all the books I'm currently or planning on reading. I also have quite a few reading project ideas I can't wait to share with everyone. Some things so far you'll be able to expect from this blog: Monthly TBRs, currently reading updates, anticipated release updates, brief but overall wrap-ups, and more.  To get to know a little bit about me, some of my favorite genres are romance, fantasy, and mystery/thrillers. I've also been getting more into the horror genre. Please let me know in the comments what post you are the most interested in reading and what your favorite genres are to read.