Tag Archives: 2019

Catwoman: Soul Stealer

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Hey!
I’m back with yet another book review. I know that it feels so tiring that I only post book reviews on here, but I can’t seem to wrap my head around how fast this year is going. Perhaps I’ll talk more about this in another post. Let’s get to the real reason why you are here the review of Catwoman: Soul Stealer by Sarah J. Maas. While Maas is the author of a famous for her Court of Thorns and Roses series, I simply haven’t gotten around to reading it. I have tried to read a few other books in this series before this and it hadn’t worked out too well.

A quick rundown of the book is that we meet Selina Kyle as a young teenager, who has taken charge of the care of her sister, Maggie who has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Her father is never talked about in the book, while her mother is portrayed as a woman who cares more about her next high rather than her girls. Selina and Maggie manage to avoid social services for a few years before time catches up with them. It is around this time that Selina is taken to jail from some of her activities with the Leopards. While she is awaiting to be arraigned Selina meets one of the sisters that run the Ah-ghuls and is taken in by what they are offering her, especially if it means that Maggie is taken care of. Flash forward several years and Selina is back in her home city of Gotham with a new look and a new agenda, and all this might be sidelined by her growing interest in Luke Fox and Batwing.

I loved at how fast paced and twist and turny this book was. Sarah J Maas really knows how to draw the reader into the story as well as bringing the story of Selina Kyle and Catwoman to a new audience with a few different takes. It was also interesting to see how Batwing and Gotham stood on their own in the story. It would have been nice to see a more developed relationship between Selina Kyle and Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, though I did enjoy the camaraderie and girl power in their moments together. It would be interesting to revisit Gotham in a later book following the story of Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn within this world that Selina Kyle also lives in.

Have you read Catwoman: Soul Stealer or any of the other books in the DC Icons series? Now that my interest has been piqued with Catwoman, I can’t wait to read a few more books in the series.

The Bright Hour

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It’s been a while since I have been here. Life has gotten quite a bit hectic and it is taking me WAY too long to get through books lately. I also have been caught up in the #100dayproject, which you can catch in more details on my instagram.

Let’s get back to the real reason you are here. Today’s post is about The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs. Last year when the Paper&Glam book club read When Breath becomes Air and the members found out that the 2 spouses of the authors were now dating, I knew that at some point I would need to read this book! I was finally able to pick up the book this year, not only that it fulfilled the requirement for the Rachel Dawson’s reading challenge of Memoir.

Nina Riggs’ book is written in a series of essays that seem to be written in chronological order and slowly get more introspective as the book progresses. Throughout the book Riggs talks candidly about her dealing with breast cancer, which soon spreads to other parts of her body. She also mentions her conversations with other cancer patients including her mother and her best friend Ginny. Riggs also quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson and other notable writers throughout the book showing off her MFA degree with some air of knowledge, but not in a haughty sense.

I loved that Nina Riggs’ is able to talk so candidly about her battle with cancer and share her thoughts on losing her mother during her battle, as well as a few interactions with her doctors and nurses throughout the ordeal. I would definitely recommend this book for its thoughtful introspective nature. I would not recommend this book for people who have recently lost a loved one to cancer or are currently battling cancer. I was in tears toward the end of the book, even though I knew what was going to happen. I also thought that it was sweet that her husband included an end note regarding many of the people we were introduced to throughout the book as to tie the ends together.

Let me know what you have been reading lately and if you have read this book also.

Turn Around Bright Eyes

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So it has been a minute since I’ve written a post here and I do have a few more coming. I think it’s mostly because I am trying to read too many books at once, if that’s believable to say. Currently, I am in the midst of three books and that’s just at the moment. I’m also about to sound like a cliche, but how is it almost the end of February already? Crazy, the first two months of the year have nearly already flown by and I still feel as if I’m getting my feet under me with the start of the new year.

Well, getting back to the topic at hand before I left for a short trip in January, Matt and I went to Book Off a used bookstore to trade in some books and get a few new ones. I found Turn Around Bright Eyes: a karaoke journey of starting over, falling in love, and finding your voice by Rob Sheffield. I was intrigued by the title so I thought why not? Little did I know that the paperback book had been abused with pages torn out and sold like a brand new copy. Yes, I did weep a bit when I saw the bits of paper that showed where pages were meant to be in the beginning 🙁

The book overall was a fun journey of Rob Sheffeld’s life so far. In case, you are wondering who Rob Sheffeld is, he was once a contributing writer to Rolling Stone magazine has written several other books around the same musical theme. To be honest until he mentioned that he was once a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, I wasn’t even sure I would have picked him out on the street, though I probably would tell you that I could recognize his writing from somewhere. I used to subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine in college when, it was still that weird 12 x 12 or so size instead of the current 8.5 x 11 or so? What’s the normal magazine size now?!?

Rob titles his chapters after song lyrics and song titles that remind me of the time when he found karaoke and the songs that he has loved to sing. Rob starts the book at the end where he is karaoke bar hopping with his wife and they are singing their way through their favorite songs. Flash backward in time to when Rob first came to New York and was introduced to karaoke which helped him through a rough patch in his life. As Rob walks you through the songs of his life and how he remembers karaoke and its origins in his life you somehow can’t help but relate to having similar memories or adventures with friends and family.

If you are a music enthusiast, followed Rob Sheffield’s career for a long time or are just intrigued by karaoke you will love this book. If not you’ll at least find a chapter or two interesting but would recommend you put the book down and trying something else. I’m pretty sure that I will be giving another one of Rob Sheffield’s book a chance in the near future. Let me know what you have been reading lately or what’s coming up next for you. I have a few more book reviews in the works in the next week that I can’t wait to tell you about 🙂

Attachments

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I know it’s been a minute since I posted anything here, but I was traveling for a bit in January. I finally got around to reading my first Rainbow Rowell book and I get the excitement behind her books. I picked this book up at a used bookstore before I left and was determined to start it even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to carry any books on my trip.

I was drawn into the world that Rainbow Rowell created in the Midwest in 1999, just around the turn of the millennium. We meet Lincoln, a lonely IT guy that is given the tasks of monitoring people’s emails. As he begins to do so he finds himself drawn into the friendship between Beth and Jennifer as seen through their emails. Soon he finds himself wanting to change and falling in love with Beth through her emails and wanting to be the guy for her.

I found myself rooting for Lincoln and the changes he was putting into place to improve his life as well as for him and Beth to be together as a couple. I won’t spoil the ending of the book for you, but if you love contemporary romance novels I guarantee that you will love this one. Let me know what you have been reading lately? Or what’s on your TBR?

Legendary

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Ahh….After finishing Caraval a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but jump into the next book. If you would like to read that review check it out here. This story picks up right at the end of Caraval, this time though we are seeing the story through Donatella (Tella)’s eyes. We find her waking up in the forest after spending the night with Dante and then flash forward to the announcement of a new game of Caraval that will take place within a few weeks just in time for Elantine’s birthday and take place in the city of Valenda. Scarlett warns Tella to be careful when playing this game since it is located so close to their home and it is where the Count D’Arcy is suppose to be from. After a rocky opening to Caraval with secrets from the last Caraval being revealed and trust being broken.

In this book, we also find out more about why Tella and Scarlet were invited to Caraval in the first place. Not to give away any major spoilers, but Tella is more inventive and creative at finding solutions than she would lead people to believe. It is also in this book that we find out more about Scarlett and Tella’s mother and where she has been since she left them so abruptly. We also gain a bit of insight into what may have caused her to leave as well as to how Legend and Caraval came to be.

I can’t tell you anymore without spoiling the book, but I found the book intriguing and a great addition to this trilogy. I love how this book continued to build on the world and the magic that we experienced in Caraval. We also get to experience the magic of Caraval through new eyes since we are experiencing it through Tella playing the game instead of just watching. We also experience the magic in a new way since the game has take on some new elements and new challenges.

Let me know if you have read this book or have read any books in this series. Are you looking forward to reading the final book coming out in May? I’m already plotting out my books for the summer.