The Mantis follows the inner life of a singular assassin, Kabuto, who works for an eerie handler called The Doctor. Kabuto is a talented and ruthless hitman, but at home he‘s fearful of upsetting his wife and not being a good father. This was a mix of humor and lots of emotion, and Isaka definitely threw a gut punch at the end that left me teary eyed. While this was markedly different from the rest of the series, I devoured it in one sitting!

Ladybug is back! 🐞 What should have been a simple delivery job has turned into a crazy fight for survival in a hotel crawling with assassins. I was so happy to have another ensemble cast of hitmen with wacky names like Cola and Soda. The twists at the end were so fun with a few I didn‘t see coming. I didn‘t love this group as much as previous books, but it definitely left me craving more from Isaka‘s quirky Japanese underworld.

Three Assassins is the prequel to Bullet Train, told in three perspectives. Cicada is a knife expert, but he wants to escape his controlling handler. The Whale convinces his victims to commit suicide, but lately all 33 have been haunting him. Asagao pushes people into traffic, more phantom than real. Poor Suzuki just wants to avenge his wife who was murdered. Action packed, funny, with an ending leaving you reeling. I LOVED this installment.

For my book club we read Red Rabbit, which I would characterize as a spaghetti horror western. A ragtag group set off across the plains to collect a bounty on a witch, running into all sorts of horrors along the way. It was a bloody ride! But there‘s more at play than the group realizes. I loved the two cowboys, Ned and Moses. This is a genre I would love to read more of! The cover is also gorgeous.

My cousin (aka my book bestie) and I like to sit down and make our own book brackets each year with a theme. We send each other monthly updates as we add books, it‘s one of my favorite bookish traditions. My bracket for 2024 was a witchy theme and I‘m happy to say I LOVED Isaka‘s Assassins series and Three Assassins is my book of the year 🥂✨ I went with a pond theme for 2025! 🦢🐸 Excited for another year of books!

#StuffedStockingSwap Thank you so much for the lovely swap!!! I adored the nutcrackers on the outside and had so much fun making the Lego nutcracker with my friend 💙🩵 I‘ve been dying to read The Wind Child and was so so excited to see it in the swap! I can‘t wait to curl up with it while drinking cocoa and munching on candy canes 🥰

My #StuffedStockingSwap arrived! I‘m loving the Nutcrackers on the outside ❤️❄️⛄️🎄 @Avanders

Package sent! ❄️⛄️🎄 #StuffedStockingSwap @Avanders

🎶 Wow this is hard! I‘m a huge Red Hot Chili Pepper Fan but recently I‘ve enjoyed What You Know by Two Door Cinema
🎶 Hmmmmm, maybe the Jamie Bower and King Sugar cover of Run On (Johnny Cash). I‘m reading Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

Clearly I need to up my Thanksgiving game! There were so many foods on here I had never thought to try. I‘ve got so many ideas now! Although, the pickle dip I make for our relish tray will always be a favorite 🥒

Foods I want to try:
🧁 cranberry and orange muffins
🍎 Sausage and apple dressing
🍠 sweet potato casserole (instead of candied yams)

Among many more! Thanks @KadaGul for the tag! @dabbe

I was gonna try to resist the holiday season at least until Thanksgiving because Halloween is my favorite holiday. But the minute I walked into a store with all the holiday stuff on display, the winter coziness slammed into me and I had to embrace it. I just love winter wonderland and winter coziness. I think of it as Nutcracker season if anything else 🩰✨🐭 Time to crack out my B&N book copy of the classic ballet! 🥰 #stuffedstockingswap

This is a really dark day. I am in shock and disbelief. I cannot believe how far we have fallen. But I wanted to share something positive that did happen as a small bright spot 🏳️‍🌈♥️🏳️‍⚧️

💀#WondrousWednesday @Eggs 🩸

Thank you so much @MaleficentBookDragon for this amazing #AllHallowsReadSwap #AHRS swap!!! The little ghost is the cutest thing I‘ve ever seen, and I am so so excited to work through the sour candy 😆 I loved a previous Coates book, so I‘m pumped to try the ones you sent 🖤🧡🎃👻

My #AllHallowsReadSwap arrived!! I‘m so excited for opening day ☺️🧡🖤🎃 #AHRS

I dropped off both my #HauntedHollowSwap #HHS and my #AllHallowsReadSwap today! I didn‘t get a photo of the packages but here‘s me leaving the post office lol. They should both arrive in a couple of days 👻🎃🖤🧡🕷️

🌽 Corn maze
🍎Picking apples
🍂 Nature walk
👻 🔥 Both!!
📚 Cozy book time
🍏 Caramel apples
🫘Chili and cornbread
☕️ Apple cinnamon
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

🖤 Coffee
🖤 I like both but I lean toward green
🖤 Spooky
🖤 It depends on the book but usually tangible
🖤 Halloween hands down
🖤 Mittens
🖤 low-key group
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

I have a huge fall/halloween tbr list, but I always find it difficult to decide what I‘m in the mood to read. I happened to learn about Red Rabbit from another litten‘s post, and the premise just sounds so unique and fun. The cover is gorgeous too! The premise of Grey Dog reminds me of the case of Dudleytown, but with a queer spin. I‘ve been wanting to read more queer horror lately and anything with feminine rage. #Sundayfunday

I made this Halloween/fall bucket list a couple years ago and I was debating changing it up. But I'm curious what are everyone else‘s autumn and Halloween traditions or bucket lists they like to try to do every year? Does anyone have a spooky book-ish tradition? #halloweenbucketlist

What a lovely swap!!! I'm so excited to have some chocolate tonight, and the stickers + journal are the cutest. I think Emily Wilde‘s Encylopedia of Fairies looks like just the kind of book I would enjoy :) @kspenmoll @Chrissyreadit #FallingForFallSwap #FFFS 🧡🍂💛

#thisorthat @Yuki_Onna 🍂💀🎃🧡🖤

#WondrousWednesday Thanks for the tag!!
🍂 I only read one book in August, so that was easy 🤭
🍎 It depends on the book. Some books are better read as paperbacks and others make good audiobooks. Ebooks are more of a last resort.
🍁 Based on my Goodreads shelves, fantasy is my most read genre ✨

I think I love making collages a little too much because I couldn‘t decide and made another one lol. Spooky Season is just the best time of the year 🧡💛🖤 💀🍂 #HHS #HauntedHollowSwap

My Halloween aesthetic! I kind of go for a vintage or classic cute and spooky vibe if that makes sense. I always think the show Over the Garden Wall perfectly captures that essence. I‘m absolutely pumped for Spooky Season 👻🎃🧡🖤#HHS #HauntedHollowSwap

The image is a little blurry but shipped my #FallingForFallSwap today! It should arrive by this Friday 😊🍁🍂🧡💛♥️

Another catch up post, this time #WondrousWednesday
🍁 I very much want to see all of the remaining archaeological sites of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
🍁 I tagged Invictus! It is a time travel book where at one point they visit the Library of Alexandria 🤩
Thanks for the tag @PageShifter

I'm playing a little bit of catch-up this week, but here is my #TLT spooky reads recs:
👻 Slewfoot by Brom
👻From Below by Darcy Coates
👻 Horseman by Christina Henry

My #FallingforFallSwap from @kspenmoll arrived yesterday! I'm so excited for opening day 🍂 I plan to ship mine out this coming week.

🍂 not be able to taste
🍂 neither? lol I guess how… I would hyper fixate on the date
🍂 change the past
🍂 the love of my life (I feel like I‘ve already found my passion)
🍂 Winter, I prefer my winter wardrobe ❄️
🍂 be invisible!
@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

This one ended up being more of a soft pick for me. I really loved Tova and Marcellus; their unlikely friendship really warmed my heart. However, I really couldn‘t stand Cameron. He was such a drag to the story, and his whiny and entitled personality were the worst. I also felt weird about Ethan. I didn‘t feel like Tova ever really welcomed his advances and felt like she was a bit forced to accept the situation. It made me feel a little uneasy.

1. Read the book
2. Do laundry (I read at the laundromat)
3. Read
4. Chocolate
5. Pen
6. Ask questions
7. Be one (I‘d like to be a children‘s book author someday)
8. Fish
9. Shop online (unless it‘s for books, then in-person)
10. Both? Both. Both is good.
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

🏎️ Towards the end of our second semester, some of my cohort started making sports bets (stress? Depression?) They would ask me for my opinion on where drivers would place in F1. I never bet personally, but my friends made some money lol.

🏁 Redline by Barlowe or Pole Position by Caffrey!
#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

Littens, I‘ve gotten myself into a reading rut where I have too many books I‘ve started or committed to reading with someone and it‘s become overwhelming. I haven‘t picked up any of the books I‘m supposed to read and instead have fallen into a reading slump. What do you do when you find yourself in this situation? I‘m curious to hear your thoughts.

This was so so good 🥹 I couldn‘t put it down! Ilya and Shane went through so much together, and you could see a lot of growth in their relationship. Ilya is sick of hiding, and he feels isolated with no one to talk to about being in a secret relationship with his rival. To make things worse, Shane doesn‘t seem to get it. What will matter more, them or hockey? I loved how many more side characters were in this one from the series ♥️🏒

🌼 I like to rewatch Over the Garden Wall, The Owl House, and Bluey. I just find them so comforting when I‘m stressed.

🪻Ghost in the Graveyard! 👻🪦

🌹 Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

Such an amazing conclusion to the Redline trilogy! It was so nice to get David‘s perspective. The way Barlowe wrote the relationships with Caroline, David‘s family, and the teams felt so realistically messy. The issues Barlowe explored within the racing world were crucial and well done, even if there was less actual racing. I couldn‘t resist finishing this in one sitting and sobbing at the end. This was one of the better romance series I‘ve read.

This was such an emotional and heartwarming read. Albert‘s story really hit close to home, and I found myself tearing up throughout most of the book. I loved Albert‘s relationship with Nicole, his coworkers, Edith, and the people he meets along the way on his quest to find George. The narrator was phenomenal and I agree this is a good book for Backman fans, even if it was a bit sappy and a bit too long. I‘m sad it took me so long to start!

Another F1 romance by an Indie author. It was so good!!! Noah and David‘s romance went through a lot of ups and downs in a believable way. Noah went through a lot of growth and I was so proud of him. I found myself crying for Noah and Finlay as they grieved for Robbie. The plot twist was so out of left field in Short Shift but I‘m staying optimistic and I‘m so excited for David‘s perspective in Wheelspin.
Redline: 5 🌟‘s
Short Shift: 4.5 🌟‘s

While waiting for my copy of Pole Position to arrive from the UK, I was looking for a rivals to lovers queer romance with a slow burn. This is exactly what I was looking for, and I loved it. 5 🌟‘s! I‘m reluctant to read the sequel in case it sours Shane and Ilya‘s story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy! I was so ecstatic to see a holiday special of Ernest Cunningham. I will say the beginning felt a little rushed. I was a little confused about how Erin (who is back!) met her boyfriend Lyle, they seemed like such a random couple. But those are pretty minor gripes. I liked the way the book was set up with christmas-y clues for each chapter and the new cast of characters! (Full review on Goodreads).

🌹 I‘ve had a couple of friends tell me to read The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O‘Farrell, saying I‘ll love it. Nothing about this book appeals to me…I just don‘t want to read it.
🌼 Anything Sara J Maas and The Red Queen by Aveyard. Nearly all of my dear friends love this book/author and I dnf‘d them. I also feel bad about this.
🌺 Percy Jackson!
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs Thanks to @Meshell1313 and @SpellboundReader for the tags!! ♥️

I‘m a HUGE fan of Formula 1 (Team Papaya!🧡🏎️) and recently I‘ve been wanting to read an F1 book to tide me over while I wait for Race Sundays.

I‘ve never been interested in sports romances. Turns out the solution was to make it queer lol. I loved this book, and I‘ve read it twice now. I wasn‘t a fan of it being 1st person, and it was super cheesy, but it was easy to look past those. I have a few more queer sports romances to review soon 🏳️‍🌈

I couldn‘t resist when I saw @CrowCAH post about AI generating a Bridgerton portrait of yourself. This one looks the most like me, but keep in mind I‘m in my early 20s 😭 looking forward to the second part of season 3!

#TwoforTuesday @TheSpineView

1. I‘ll always be impressed with how weird and creative Vassa in the Night was by Sarah Porter. I wish all fairytale retellings were that creative.

1. Vassa in the Night is the only one I‘ve read, but I hope to read more or that she writes more like it. 🦢

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I am a big fan of Van Gogh, and I was delighted to see a graphic biography about him. I enjoyed Van Gogh‘s life being narrated by his sister-in-law Johanna since she became the steward of his legacy. I was a little let down by the art. It felt a little more aimed toward younger audiences despite the biography itself being meant for adults. I wanted more inclusions and nods toward Van Gogh‘s unique style.

Contagion was a 3 🌟 read for me. I wanted more space horror after finishing Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, and this one was recommended to me on the app Likewise. I disliked almost all of the characters, and I didn‘t care much if they made it to the end of the book or not. I started warming up to Thea and Coen toward the end, but I can‘t say I‘m motivated to pick up the next book Immunity. I will continue my quest to find some good space horror.

I read this as an ARC on Netgalley. This was a beautiful and sad story about a Jewish family during the holocaust and their violin. There were a lot of new words in this book I wasn‘t familiar with. While there are plenty of context clues to help children follow along, I think a little explanation toward the beginning would give children an excellent cultural lesson on Jewish faith and practices. Overall, a poignant story and gorgeous pictures.

I think Ghost Station was a solid 3 🌟‘s. It took a long time to get to the horror, and it wasn‘t what I was hoping for. I prefer the psychological horror and having a bit more unknown that just scares the hell out of you. Once I got the explanation, my interest just dropped off. It also felt like she copied and pasted the same character archetypes from the last book.

I will say I am loving space horror and would love any recs people have!

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
🔹 hmm, nothing stands out. But I love going to the library!
🔹 Library + bookstore + digital downloads. I found out I have 117+ unread books at home and 300+ downloaded on my phone. I think I might have an addiction 🙋🏻‍♀️
🔹 I‘ve started getting into sci-fi/space horror, so currently reading Contagion by Bowman