Spicy Pumpkin Latte Book Tag | Bookending Autumn 2019

Hello, and how are you? I hope your week has been great so far! Today, I’ll be sharing with you my last #BEAutumn2019 post. You can learn more about BE Autumn, see the rules and the rest of October’s topics, and sign up over on Sam’s page @ Sam Fictionally.

You can also follow them @bookend_events for more updates!!

Today, I’m going to be doing the Spicy Pumpkin Latte Tag hosted by the amazing Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads.

Spicy Pumpkin Latte Book Tag: Autumn is when the beverage names at the local coffee shop start to look more like a harvest produce list than anything from a drinks menu. What better way to celebrate this oddity than to do an autumnal drinks book tag?!

I’ve never had a latte, or coffee for that matter, or any of the drinks listed below. I’m more of a black tea, juice, soda, or water kind of girl. But this still sounds super fun, so let’s get started!!

Pumpkin Spice Latte: A book you didn’t think you’d love

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows.

I really did not expect to love this as much as I did. When I read it, I wasn’t really a big fan of fantasy, however I loved it. The humor, the plot, the fantasy/paranormal aspects, it was all so awesome.

I loved, G, Jane, Edward (especially Edward), and all the other various characters. They were all hilarious and I love how the authors based it on history, and then changed it in such an amazing way! Humor + historical fiction (based on history) + fantasy = awesomeness!!!


Hot Apple Cider: A book that got you a bit hot under the collar

A Spy in the House (The Agency Series) by Y. S. Lee

This isn’t really much? But it does get a little bit more…passionate in the later books 🙂

Anyways, this still has an awesome plot, and it’s set in the Victorian Era. It’s a great series. and I love Mary and her fierceness. She’s also a new and interesting character who is different and considered inferior in her time. She’s a pretty great detective and is really determined and brave.

The mysteries are pretty great, and I finished the whole series pretty quickly. Oh, and James is an absolute darling 💖 Absolutely, annoyingly, handsomely, a bit over protective, but also super kind, and definitely a perfect darling.


Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate: A book that felt like a warm hug

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

I really loved this book for its representation, the great characters, the food, and the writing style. It was super heartwarming to read about Emoni’s struggles, how she overcame them, her family (Buela and Babygirl are the sweetest), and her awesome friends, especially Angelica.

I also really loved the way the book was written-it felt like I was in Emoni’s head and reading her words, not just being told a story in a more formal way. And let’s not forget the amazing food in this book. There are no words to describe the deliciousness of it all. It made me want to fly into the kitchen and whip up a mess lol.


Maple Pecan Latte: A book you enjoyed that was hard to get into

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

It took me 19 days to finally get past the first 10%. It was slow. Like, really slow. The murder mystery is interesting, Kya’s life is interesting, the back story is interesting but wow, it is so so slow, and it was until around the last third-ish of the book that the pace began to pick up.

However, I still gave it 4 stars because this is supposed to be a slow read, that is heavy on the description of the Marsh, and of Kya’s life before the murder. The murder mystery was a pretty small aspect of the book compared to the rest of it. But I still enjoyed it. I pushed myself to finish it (and I did skim some of the description), and I’m pretty glad that I did, because I eventually liked Kya and all her friends, and it saved me from DNFing. The only reason that I picked it up, was because of the mystery and the odd characters, so it was disappointing to see that it wasn’t a major part of the story, but I ended up liking the characters and the coming-of-age aspect much more instead.


London Fog: A vanilla character

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This was such a disappointing book. Absolutely disappointing. I hated Claire. I hated Nix. The idea of the story was okay, but the execution was horrible. This was more like a horrible Disney princess movie with a dark boy who falls in love with a girl who has never been noticed. And this girl is the most annoying character ever.

As soon as Claire meets Nix, she falls in love with him because he’s the only one who has noticed her. Hello? He noticed you because he was supposed to kill you. But obviously that’s just a technicality that doesn’t matter. And then after that, all Claire can think about is her darling Nix, and her new super powers… It’s just a horrible book, and Claire is annoying and intolerable.


Hot Buttered Rum: A book that was velvety smooth to read

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

I don’t think this is really velvety smooth? But it’s an easy espionage story and I liked it. Nothing super amazing, but good enough that I’ve continued on with the series.

The ending does get intense, and the court drama and intrigue is very interesting, but I also feel like it was just meh, nothing super remarkable, but pretty nice to read. I don’t really like Peggy, I wish Olivia had a bigger role from the first book (she’d make a great spy), and the drama with Sophy Howe is maybe a bit much, but it’s also kind of hilarious to read.


Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew: A character whose temperament is icy cold

The Great Lady Sarnai from Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

She’s cruel. Unbelievably so. It’s kind of interesting, while terrifying to read about at the same time. She has no sympathy or feelings for anyone (besides the guy she loved and whom she now can’t marry) and she terrorizes everyone wherever she goes.

But she’s also sad, lonely, being used as a peace pawn, and her way of life being discarded so that she can become a woman she doesn’t want to be. So it’s also kind of understandable. But then, her heart is obviously made of ice, because there was a certain point in the book where I though she might change, but instead she was absolutely brutal.


Salted Caramel Mocha: A book that you’re salty about

Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

This book was a mess. An utter mess. Audrey Rose completely went off the rails in this one. She stopped trusting our dearest Cresswell, and trusted a self-confessed liar and con man. Think about that for a minute. Cresswell who has been with her through hell and back, Cresswell who’s never attempted to cage her, and has always respected and admired her, Cresswell who would probably walk across a volcano barefoot to save her life, was deemed not trustworthy enough to keep/properly react to the secret Audrey Rose was trying to keep with a LIAR.

This makes no sense, and honestly, if you want to read the full rant head right over here, because the above is only part of the tragedy that is this book. It’s definitely the most disappointing book from the series so far.


Honey Bee Latte: A character who is sweet

Jude from The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

To be honest, JLB always manages to write amazing characters, the serious ones, the destructive/rule breaker ones, and the sweet-bring-a-smile-to-your-face kind of ones.

Jude is the latter. He is eternally optimistic and he always finds the good or bright side of things. I also love him because he was there for Kira, always supported her, and diffused situations spectacularly. He’s just a super sweet warm bun who cares more about others and about their feelings than for his own. And he forgives so easily and never holds a grudge against anyone.


Gingerbread Latte: A character you’d take home for Christmas

I have no idea? I don’t celebrate Christmas, and honestly, I’m not sure if I want to bring any character home for any celebration because it would probably end up in a disaster. An absolute disaster. It’s either they are super fun but destructive, or they are the kind to just sit there glowering and being absolutely unreasonable (and possibly the ones who someone might decide to pick a fight with, and then I have to make sure they don’t end up dead). Neither is a very good option for a party…

Tagging

Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea | Kat @ Novels and Waffles | Evelyn @ Evelyn Reads | Jane @ Blogger Books | Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads

*P.S. No pressure if you don’t want to do the tag!!

This was so much fun to do, and if you’d like to do the tag, go right ahead! Be sure to link back so I can see your answers as well!! See you guys tomorrow!

Study Group | Bookending Autumn 2019

Good morning and welcome back! I am very excited to be taking part in BE Autumn this year, and I think today’s topic is awesome!! But first, if you want to take part and learn more, head right over to Sam @ Fictionally Sam to see the rules and the rest of October’s topics!!

You can also follow them @bookend_events for more updates!

Today’s prompt, brought to us by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads, is:

Study Group: Fall is back to school and you need to organize a study group. Pick eight characters and discuss which subjects they bring their expertise to.

I’m currently still in school, so I’m excited to use my courses for this year, though I’m going to change a few, and find characters who were born to study whatever course. And maybe they can come do my class work for me??

American Literature

Audrey Rose Wadsworth

In Hunting Prince Dracula, Audrey Rose’s love of books is super evident, and I feel like she would be thrilled to read and analyze all sorts of texts.

Also, considering the fact that we’re reading books from around her time period in class, I’m sure it’d be much easier for her to relate or understand these books, compared to my 21st century born self.

Algebra

Jack Cole

In reality, I’m actually taking Geometry, which I’m liking, but I struggled a bit with Algebra, so I’m swapping them. Quadratic functions, parabolas, all of that stuff was not really that much fun for me, but I liked solving for x or drawing normal graphs. Geometry, so far, seems kind of easier.

Jack is a child genius, and I’m sure he would love studying Algebra, or any math course in general. There were a series of equations in the book that he instantly solved and I think that that is proof enough that he will be an awesome Algebra student.

Science

Victor Vale

My actual course is Physical Science. I don’t like science much, and I’m pretty surprised to find that I’m liking the atoms/periodic table aspect, which is more Chemistry than Physical Science, but that’s what we’re learning 🤷‍♀️

Victor Vale is a genius when it comes to Science and biology (in a way). I loved reading about EO’s and how their powers worked and the experiments were fun and terrifying at the same time. Since he’s still alive to tell the tale, I think it is safe to assume that Victor would be perfect for my science class.

Spanish

Margaret (Peggy) Fitzroy

Yo estudio español en la escuela y es muy divertido aprender un nuevo idioma. Translation: “I study Spanish in school and it is very fun to learn a new language.” I won’t lie, I used Google Translate for the last part of the sentence. What can I say? I’m still learning.

As a spy in the royal court, Peggy speaks Latin, German, French, and English, so she obviously would be the perfect pupil for my Spanish class. And maybe she’d be so kind to teach me German and French…

Culinary Arts

Emoni Santiago

I actually don’t have a culinary arts class, but if my school offered it, I sure would take it! Also, I don’t think I have a character who would be awesome at Business and Technology, which is my usual class.

Emoni loves to cook. She has a gift when it comes to being in the kitchen and all the cooking and food that happens in this book is mouth-watering. She also takes Culinary Arts in her high school anyway so she’s obviously very perfectly suitable for this class.

Intro to Crimes and Heists

Kaz Brekker

Okay. Yes. I know. There is no way that my school is teaching about crime and heists, but a girl can wish. I usually have World History, but I can’t think of any character who’s good at history. And so, I chose a course I’d love to take!!

Of course Kaz is the master of heists and crime and I couldn’t pick a more perfect student. However, he’d probably end up teaching the class since he knows a whole lot more than the teacher…

These are only 6 characters, and I actually only have 6 courses in real life, so I’m not sure what other courses/who else to put to make it 8.

That’s it for this post! Which characters would you want to do your classes for you? What’s a course that you wish you could take? Do/did you like your classes in school? Chat with me in the comments below!

Garden of Evil | Bookending Autumn 2019

Hi guys and welcome to my first post for Bookending Autumn!! I am so so excited to be taking part this year, and I love today’s topic! But first, if you want to take part and learn more, head right over to Sam @ Fictionally Sam‘s website to see the rules and the rest of October’s topics!!

You can also follow them @bookend_events for more updates!

The prompt for today was chosen by Jamsu @ Jamsu Dreams: Pick a villain and talk about what you love about him/ her. You can talk about why you liked them more as a bad guy than as a good guy.

Let’s get started!

I thought about picking an anti-hero, because technically, they are villains as well, and there are a bunch of them that I like…but I’ve decided to pick someone who is 100% a villain instead.


Book: Spin the Dawn

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Villain: Lady Sarnai

About: Lady Sarnai is being forced against her will to marry the Emperor, when she’d much rather be hunting, or breaking some poor person’s soul. She’s ruthless, she’s cold, and she can be cruel. It doesn’t help that she’s the daughter of the empire’s enemy, and everyone would rather hate her, than welcome her as the key holder of peace between her father and the Emperor.

I liked Lady Sarnai because she was unpredictable, she was hurt, and she was hiding, putting on a strong bravado, while she actually crumbled on the inside. In a rare moment, she’s seen crying, and that just made me like her even more, and really want to help or keep her company. It doesn’t help that we don’t really get to know her besides the fact that she is demanding, rude, and really mean-actually, more like cruel.

Hopefully in book 2, we get to know her better, and maybe she won’t be a villain anymore.

What do you think? Have you read Spin the Dawn? Does Lady Sarnai intrigue you as well? Are you taking part in Bookending Autumn? Who is your most beloved villain? Chat with me in the comments below!!