Happy Tuesday bookish people! Merry Bookmas day 7. Today I am going to be showing you what I think are the best book covers of 2021, now I’m not just showing books that were published in 2021, I’m not even sure if there are any published in 2021 on my list, but the books that I have read in 2021. I have chosen my top ten and it’s a collection of books I wanted to read and books I was on a book tour for.
Up first is…
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig
This book is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses and it has one of the most beautiful covers of all the books I own.
How The King of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories by Holly Black
This is a companion to the Cruel Prince series by Holly Black and depending on the version there are white, black and purple covers that I’ve seen.
Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu
This is an interesting books about witches and the power of women
The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant
This is a middle grade book that has a beautiful dust jacket and a beautiful cover under the dust jacket
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The colours on this cover are fantastic
Instructions For Dancing by Nicola Yoon
This cover fits the book perfectly – I have posted a book review for this book on this site this year as part of a blog tour
Secrets of the Stars by Maria Kuzniar
Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell
The illustrations on these covers are so detailed
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holt
and finally…
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
That’s it for my favourite book covers of the books that I have read so far this year, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Happy Monday bookish people! This is book review four of seven for today. This one is for Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell, it is the third book in the Spellslinger series.
In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.
Charmcaster Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This is the third book in the series so I have already been immersed in the world Castell has built and this book continued the beautiful imagery that the first two presented. I loved the uniqueness of this plot and how it tied in details from Shadowblack and Spellslinger, it felt so comfortable for me to be back in this world.
Charmcaster Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
As I said above, I was already immersed in this world so I knew the main characters Kellen, Ferius and Reichus very well by this point but there were some characters brought back from the first book that I felt added to the enjoyment of this book.
Charmcaster Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I love Sebastien De Castell’s writing style, he is effortlessly witty, charming and creates complex plots and characters. He also created a very flawed protagonist who really should not still be alive at this point but of course I’m glad he is.
Charmcaster Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This book, the same as the other books in the series, is a four star for me because I enjoyed every moment of it and I can’t wait to begin the fourth book in the series which is on my August TBR.
Blurb/Synopsis:
The third book in the page-turning Spellslinger fantasy series.
‘I was getting almost as good at running away from enemies as I was at making them in the first place. Turns out, I wasn’t running nearly fast enough.’
Kellen has begun to master his spellslinging and the Argosi tricks for staying alive, and he and Reichis have found a career that suits them both: taking down mercenary mages who make people’s lives miserable. But Ferius is concerned that Kellen is courting disaster . . .
Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.
That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Happy Wednesday bookish people! So we’re here, it is finally the end of June. This month has been completely up and down for me in terms of my general life but in terms of reading I think it might have been my best month of the year… I did not complete my TBR but I was part of a bunch of book tours for this month so I was prioritizing them.
Also this month I was taking part in the Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon which was created by Maddie at Book Browsing Blog on YouTube. This was so much fun to be part of, I was part of team dreams and drama queens and I think it was one of my biggest motivations to read this month.
Onto the wrap up!
My June TBR and Thoughts:
Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell – I read the first chapter.. I’m not going to count this as reading because the first chapter is only about ten pages.
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan – I started this book while travelling to Bristol and back during this month but I wasn’t in the right mood for how dark this book is so I stopped reading at the halfway point.
Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova – I did not read this.
Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett – I did not read this either.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I didn’t read this.
One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake – I didn’t read.
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – I did not read.
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin – I read this! and LOVED it, I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to reading this.
I read 12 books and started another two so June was a pretty good reading month, hopefully July will be just as successful. That’s it for my June wrap up, I hope you enjoyed it!
Happy Tuesday bookish people! It is the first of June and that means it is time to show you what I am planning on reading for this month.
So… May went okay it didn’t go terribly or brilliantly – I managed to read eight books, if you are interested in my May Wrap Up you can find it here: https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/01/may-wrap-up/
Once again for June I have a mountain of books on my TBR – for a couple of reasons. First, my TBR game just loves giving me doubles and so many extra books – I always begin with twelve but end up with more. Secondly – and I am VERY excited about this… in June I am taking part in Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon. A readathon that has been created by Book Browsing Blog on Youtube. I am part of the team Dreams and Drama Queens. That team name is very fitting for me.. anyway, there’s all sorts of prompts and points you can get for different books – if you’re interested in it go and check out her channel on Youtube where she explains it all.
As well as my TBR books I also have some books to read this month for book tours and for publishers so we will see how well I do.
So onto my TBR for June!
Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell – I am looking forward to reading this one, it is the third book in the spellslinger series and I have enjoyed both Spellslinger and Shadowblack.
Deadly Curious by Cindy Astley – a murder mystery set in Victorian London, it sounds like a very interesting premise.
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater – I’m not looking forward to reading this one as much. This is the second book in the Raven Boys series, I thought the first book was okay but not brilliant and I do want to continue with the series so hopefully this will make me push through.
Fable by Adrienne Young – I’m so excited to read this one. The cover is beautiful, it gives me pirate themes… I’m excited.
The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant – I got this book for Easter from my parents and it is going to be the first book I read this month, I’ve been dying to read it since I got it but I hadn’t been able to get it onto a TBR until now.
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan – this book sounds so interesting, a girl witnesses her best friend be abducted and later hosts a cold case podcast type show where she is anonymous, there’s all sorts of secrets surrounding everything and it sounds like it could be a new favourite.
Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova – I can’t actually remember what this book is about but it has been on my Tbr for a while so it’s time I got around to reading it.
Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett – I have had this one on quite a few TBRs and not gotten around to it so hopefully I will this month.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I loved The Starless Sea, also by this author, and anything circus I’m drawn to so hopefully I will enjoy this one.
One Dark throne by Kendare Blake – I’m not excited to read this one, it’s another series that I thought the first book was okay and I want to continue the series but I’m not very excited about it.
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – The cover is beautiful, the plot sounds interesting… it is a very big book though.
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin – I need to read this book, it sounds great and I’ve seen a lot of people recommend it.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – this will be a reread for me, I’m buddy reading it with some other whatever a thon people which I am very much looking forward to.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah penner – this book sounds very different to anything I’ve seen before so I’m looking forward to reading it.
and finally Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M McManus – I’ve read the cousins by the same authot and enjoyed it so I’m hopeful for this one too.
That’s it for my June TBR, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Good morning bookish people! It’s Friday again. This week has been a rough one for me, my Mum has had to have a big operation so it’s been rather stressful. So I thought for today’s post I’d do a short. light-hearted book tag about cake. I mean who doesn’t like cake?! I found this tag on ZeeZeewithbooks. Let me know- what’s your favourite type of cake? And what books would you answer these questions with?
Enjoy!
Starting off very nicely with chocolate cake: a dark book that you absolutely love? For this one I’m going to go with The Bear and the Nightengale by Katherine Arden. It was my first five star read of 2021 and I LOVED it, the atmosphere is really dark though and I’ve heard that the series gets darker…
Vanilla cake: A light read? Hmm… most of the books I read are pretty dark fantasies but one that is coming to mind is Blooming Grand by Carmella McKenzie about a girl, a boy, a garden shop and a little it of magic. It’s light hearted and just a lovely story.
Red Velvet Cake: A book that gave you mixed emotions? Ooh, so many! I think I’m going to go with The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. It was good and I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it, in particular the ending. Confession time.. I have never had red velvet cake…
Cheesecake: (I love cheesecake!) A book you would recommend to anyone? The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern hands down! It’s my favourite book, I suggested my friend read it – she did and loved it, it’s just a wonderful, magical, whimsical book.
Coffee Cake: A book you started but never finished? I am ashamed to say it but this has to be The City of Brass by S A Chakraborty, I rarely don’t finish books but I put this one down to do something and just could not find the motivation to pick it back up. I will eventually but right now.. not so much. It’s a big book.
Carrot Cake: A book with great writing? Again, so many! For this one I think I’ll go with the Spellslinger series by Sebastien De Castell. I love this series, it hooked me from the first page and the writing, I think, is brilliant.
Tiramasu: A book that left you wanting more: This tag is full of tough decisions! I’ll choose Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson for this one. Simply because it’s a stand alone book that ends on a sort of cliffhanger and when I finished reading it I would have given pretty much anything to find out what happened after that ending.
Cupcakes: A series with 4+ books? I literally can’t choose one for this, pretty much all of my books are in series’ longer than four books… nope, I can’t do it. I won’t choose between them!
And finally Fruit Cake: A book that wasn’t what you anticipated? The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, not in a bad way, I enjoyed the book and I’m going to continue with the series but I expected James Bond mixed with librarians but it wasn’t like that at all.
That’s it for this book tag, I hope everyone enjoyed it!
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