So excited for June 12th 🙊

I started a bookmark company on Etsy! Of you‘re interested it is called the Bibliophile Apothecary. And above is one of my designs 🖤

I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire with the kettle just beginning to sing.

Alosa and Riden are hands down my fav and I highly enjoyed the back and forth between these two. As for other characters I was happy to see most of our pirates to be morally gray! This story takes place in a mythical world, but there isn‘t much world building in terms of the land kingdoms, it‘s saved for the sea dwellers. Many of my fav parts were the legends the pirates passed on to one another, especially about the Siren Island, Island De Canta.

Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal. Sing you a song and steal your soul.

So I reread the Raven Boys and I must say I loved it so much more the second time around! Also thanks so much for 100 followers! So cool! 🙌🏽

My #bookofthemonth box came! Here are my picks!

This month has been full of awesome new releases!

So excited to dive into this beauty! I have the highest of hopes for this read 😍

“My drops of tears, I‘ll turn to sparks of FIRE” 🔥

This series has blown my mind! I am so excited to move forward with the series.

Got my BOTM! These are my feb picks!

What are you currently reading? I‘m listening to Illuminae on audiobook and it‘s UHMAZING 😱

Backy Chambers can do no wronggg 🙌🏽

The story opens with the death of Leah‘s parents and the discovery that her Uncle, the only living person to know of Leah‘s secret, has come into town to take ownership of her home and her “witching” powers. Leah hightails it out town and heads west to California. Carson does an amazing job fleshing out her characters. I am so attached to every ‘good‘ character we meet that I feel as if I know them and I continue to think about them every day.

“Don‘t let the Muggles get you down!”

ALWSAP is very character and relationship focused and let me tell you, it‘s for the best because these characters are just so annoyingly likeable. The writing is superb, I thoroughly enjoyed Chamber‘s quirky, fast-paced, and intelligent writing style. Chamber‘s ability to take heavy topics and discuss them in a well rounded and insightful manner blew me away. She manages to squeeze in war, homophobia, racism, mental stigma, and so much more.

I enjoy King's writing, it's a combination of formality and slang, this may be because he sticks to traditional grammar and language, but reminisces and jokes a lot. Plus this book is set in two completely different time periods: 21st century and the late 50's early 60's. Overall, 11.22.63 is a complex story, not only does the book span five years, it's almost as if each year and location shifts into a new vibe and feeling.

I cannot describe how engrossed I was in this story. I think, if I added up the hours I read, I read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer in a day! I haven't been this enthralled for a while, but to put it all out there, I love a good angsty romance, LOVE IT. But I love it even more when an angsty romance is sprinkled with some paranormal activity and an overarching mystery.

I loved this book, it is very much a foundational book, but it is so gritty and raw and realistic. I think that despite the fact that there is a magic system developing we get to focus on the intricacies of the relationships established in this book. I loved all the characters, good or bad, and how they interacted with one another. It says a lot when you‘re dying to see what the villain of the story is going to do next.

I have a love hate relationship with Rainbow Rowell‘s writing. She comes up with interesting and compelling topics, but her execution is lacking for me. The thing is I didn‘t dislike this story, I actually loved many parts and related completely to a lot of the issues Cath was facing, but something about Rowell‘s writing was off. It could have been the Carry On inserts or the fact that there isn‘t much resolve to big issues. Plus, the open-ending.

I have figured out my biannual bibliothon TBR!
❄️Sleepy Hallow is both under 200 pages and a book referenced in another form of media (TV).
❄️Queens of Geek discusses mental illness.
❄️Walk on Earth a Stranger was a book I had never heard of before, I only knew of the author.
❄️Retribution Rails is the sequel to Vengeance Road.
❄️Otherworld is the group pick.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is apprehensive about Westerns because it doesn‘t read as you‘d expect. The beginning is a tad slow, but it‘s worth it. The plot moves quickly, there are twists and turns around every corner, you never know who to trust, and the politics are unbelievable. My personal favorite aspect of this story? The characters! Each character was fleshed out and unique. I lived for the banter and the theater performances!

The world building is a bit lacking and a bit all over the place in this one, but it didn‘t take away from the main point in the story, which was figuring out Jules past. This story was shrouded in mystery and it‘s what kept me so engaged. Although this story reads much your typical YA fantasy and falls into some of the trope traps, Holland does a beautiful job of twisting tropes and conventions that made the story seem fresh.

This book was quite hard to get into, I want to say about page 200 things begin to get exciting, but looking back I realize that Maggie spent a lot of time setting up characters, character dynamics, and background which I now can appreciate. If you're looking for something quick and light, this is not for you! But if you are a character driven reader, pick this up immediately!

Although this wasn't my all time favorite endings to a series, mainly due to the loose ends, which will be supposedly solved in the companion novels, I still love this series. These characters are wonderful and an unforgettable love story.

#bewitchedbookishwormjune DAY TWENTY: FICTIONAL SONG. I immediately thought of the Sorting Hat, but I settled on This Savage Song (if you're curious what's playing it is Stevie Wonder, Don't you Worry 'bout a Thing). Do you think music says a lot about someone? 🤔 #thissavagesong

#bewitchedbookishwormjune DAY EIGHTEEN: BIGGEST BABE. I'm a day behind 😬 but I suppose we all saw this coming, Rhys (but obviously everyone in this story happens to be a babe, sooo). Surprise, surprise! I also couldn't help but find an excuse to take a photo of this beautiful candle! 🦇
#sarahjmaas #acomaf #acowar #acotar

I haven't heard too much about The Darkest Minds series, but the synopsis was very intriguing, so against my better judgment to not buy anymore books, I bought this book 😬
Also, I have been really drawn to these gothic, bright, half-face, half-book photos, so this is my attempt at thaaaaat. Hope you're having a good Monday! It's hot as hell here 😅

👋🏽 Hey! I'm Steph! I'm new to Litsy but it seems like an awesome combination of Instagram and Goodreads. My user name on Instagram is also stephanieleannebookish, fyi, if you're coming from Insta! I'm excited to start reviewing more books! At the moment, Eliza and Her Monsters is my most anticipated summer read. ✨