Sunday Post. Happy New Year!

Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviews.

2021 was, without a doubt, not my blogging year. Nor my reading year. Every time I felt inspired to return, it only lasted a few days (not long enough for me to write and/or complete any new post). I will now keep on hoping 2022 is better because, as I have written a thousand times before, I love rambling about books, sharing my most anticipated releases, shamelessly showing all the books on my TBR pile, and being part of an open-hearted community. Let us hope 2022 will be a better year for My Lovely Secret. 🤞

What happened this week:

🌻 I decided not to officially join any reading challenge. I set my Goodreads goal (twenty-four books since 2021 was such a bad reading year), and that's all for now. Maybe if I find myself able to read, I may change my mind.

🌻 To welcome the new year and my latest attempt to get back at blogging, I'm hosting a book giveaway over Twitter.

🌻 I created an account at The Storygraph because I love  all the graphs. However, I'm still learning how to use it. 😅

 

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron and For The Wolf by Hannah Whitten were Christmas gifts from me to me. 😜 I read Cinderella is Dead back in August, and I immensely enjoyed it (it was my first five-stars book of the year), so I cannot wait to dive into Bayron's new story. I got Bound by Firelight by Dana White through Penguin's rep international program (I haven't been kicked out yet 😅), and I'm currently reading it -- so far, so good.

How have you been? What are your reading plans for 2022?

If you like my blog and would like to support it, you may use my Book Depository affiliate link, my Scribd referral, or buy me a coffee.
You may also buy some bookish items from my RedBubble store.

 
 

Sunday Post. Another Comeback

Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviews.

Long time, no see, right? 😅 This year just hasn't been my blogging year. From a reading slump to feeling less than inspired to share my bookish thoughts, 2021 was when I took a long hiatus without meaning to -- there were several attempts of to come back. Still, sadly, blogging was not a priority between a PhD thesis and job hunting (the latter took most of my time). Without any further delay, let me share with you what I've been up since whenever was the last time I joined this meme.

What has been happening in my life:

🌻 As of September, I'm finally starting a new job -- it's only temporary, and I will share more details about it with you soon (that if I don't vanish again).   

🌻 In other news, I may have finally received a fellowship/research studentship. I'm waiting for the finals results to be released, but if nothing changes, after so many failures, I got one. 😭

🌻 I've been attending conferences and sharing my research on young adult fiction. I've actually published a paper on pandemics and young adult dystopias. You can find it here.

🌻 After a prolonged reading slump so far, I've read 14 books this month.

🌻 I'm having some issues with Blogger. I'm trying to figure out if it was once again updated or if it's my browser. Or maybe I no longer know how to work with it. 😅

What's the first thing a book blogger does when they suddenly feel it is the perfect time to start blogging again? Yes, visit NetGalley and request new e-arcs. So far, most of my requests were denied -- no surprise, since I was away for so long. However, I need to point out that one of my requests was dismissed because it seems I now live in the USA. Does whoever is responsible takes the time to read our info correctly? Among all the denials, my request for Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was accepted, and I could not be more excited since I adored Mexican Gothic.

How have you been? Are you enjoying a lovely summer? Any new favourite book(s)?

If you like my blog and would like to support it, you may use my Book Depository affiliate link, my Scribd referral, or buy me a coffee.
You may also buy some bookish items from my RedBubble store.

 
 

Can't Wait Books. May 2021

I'm back! At least, I hope I'm back because I love blogging about books too much to give up. 💛 Since May just began and I wanted my comeback post to be something I could easily put together (there was nothing easy about putting this list together), here are all the May releases I can't wait to read. 😋 Suprisingly, I've come across several contemporary novels that I wish to read -- you know I'm a fantasy reader who rarely crosses the fence to adventure into cute/heartbreaking contemporary romances.

 
Title: Black Water Sister [book depository]

Author: Zen Cho

Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 11th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: The truth is I have yet to read any book written by Zen Cho. Black Water Sister seems the perfect novel to begin exploring Cho's writing since I am always in for tales about ghosts and mediums. Moreover, the blurb has definitely caught my eye -- "A stressed zillennial lesbian fights gods, ghosts, gangsters & grandmas in 21st century Penang."

 

A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there's only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she's determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god--and she's decided Jess is going to help her do it.

Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she'll also need to regain control of her body and destiny. If she fails, the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.

 

 
Title: Illusionary [book depository]

Author: Zoraida Córdova

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 11th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Perhaps I can't wait to read Illusionary because I read Incendiary (review) last year and I loved this re-imagining of the Spanish Inquisition and its main character, the fearless Renata Convida.? It is a pretty good reason, right?

 

Reeling from betrayal at the hands of the Whispers, Renata Convida is a girl on the run. With few options and fewer allies, she's reluctantly joined forces with none other than Prince Castian, her most infuriating and intriguing enemy. They're united by lofty goals: find the fabled Knife of Memory, kill the ruthless King Fernando, and bring peace to the nation. Together, Ren and Castian have a chance to save everything, if only they can set aside their complex and intense feelings for each other.

With the king's forces on their heels at every turn, their quest across Puerto Leones and beyond leaves little room for mistakes. But the greatest danger is within Ren. The Gray, her fortress of stolen memories, has begun to crumble, threatening her grip on reality. She'll have to control her magics--and her mind--to unlock her power and protect the Moria people once and for all.

For years, she was wielded as weapon. Now it's her time to fight back.

 

 
Title: From Little Tokyo, With Love [book depository]

Author: Sarah Kuhn

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Published: 11th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Retellings and modern fairy tales, I just want to read all of them, okay? Also, the cover of From Little Tokyo With Love is absolutely adorable. 😍

 

Celebrated author Sarah Kuhn reinvents the modern fairy tale in this intensely personal yet hilarious novel of a girl whose search for a storybook ending takes her to unexpected places in both her beloved LA neighborhood and her own guarded heart.

If Rika’s life seems like the beginning of a familiar fairy tale–being an orphan with two bossy cousins and working away in her aunts’ business–she would be the first to reject that foolish notion. After all, she loves her family (even if her cousins were named after Disney characters), and with her biracial background, amazing judo skills and red-hot temper, she doesn’t quite fit the princess mold.

All that changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America’s reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival. From there, Rika embarks on a madcap adventure of hope and happiness–searching for clues about her long-lost mother, exploring Little Tokyo’s hidden treasures with a cute actor, and maybe…finally finding a sense of belonging.

But fairy tales are fiction and the real world isn’t so kind. Rika knows she’s setting herself up for disappointment, because happy endings don’t happen to girls like her. Should she walk away before she gets in even deeper, or let herself be swept away?

 
Title: Son of the Storm [book depository]

Author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Publisher: Orbit
Published: 11th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Who can resist a book about forbidden stories, dark secrets, and magic that should not exist? I know I can't! By the way, the book cover is just so fierce and gorgeous, and I love it so so much! 😍

 

From one of the most exciting new storytellers in epic fantasy, Son of the Storm is a sweeping tale of violent conquest and forgotten magic set in a world inspired by the pre-colonial empires of West Africa.

"Everything I love in a fantasy novel. Damn good stuff!" —Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings

In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—only he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy.

But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire. 

 
Title: The Marvelous Mirza Girls [book depository]

Author: Sheba Karim

Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Published: 18th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I'm sure Bollywood celebrities, fourteenth-century ruins, karaoke parties, and Sufi saints sums up why I can't wait to get my hands on The Marvelous Mirza Girls.

 

To cure her post–senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen is ready to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back.

In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir, who introduces her to the wonders of this magical, complicated place. With Kabir’s help—plus Bollywood celebrities, fourteenth-century ruins, karaoke parties, and Sufi saints—Noreen begins to rediscover her joyful voice.

But when a family scandal erupts, Noreen and Kabir must face complicated questions in their own relationship: What does it mean to truly stand by someone—and what are the boundaries of love?

 
Title: Tokyo Ever After [book depository]

Author: Emiko Jean

Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: 18th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I was not fond of Emiko Jean's Empress of All Seasons, but Tokyo Ever After gives me The Princess Diaries vibes (I have only ever watched the films), thus becoming a must-read.

 

Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi—or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”—and her mom against the world. But then Izzy discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity… and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess.

In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?

 

 
Title: In the Ravenous Dark [book depository]

Author: A.M. Strickland

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 18th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Bloodmages, spirits, Underworld. Bloodmages, spirits, Underworld. Bloodmages, spirits, Underworld. Bloodmages, spirits, Underworld!

 

A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead.

In Thanopolis, those gifted with magic are assigned undead spirits to guard them—and control them. Ever since Rovan’s father died trying to keep her from this fate, she’s hidden her magic. But when she accidentally reveals her powers, she’s bound to a spirit and thrust into a world of palace intrigue and deception.

Desperate to escape, Rovan finds herself falling for two people she can’t fully trust: Lydea, a beguiling, rebellious princess; and Ivrilos, the handsome spirit with the ability to control Rovan, body and soul.

Together, they uncover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis. To save them all, Rovan will have to start a rebellion in both the mortal world and the underworld, and find a way to trust the princess and spirit battling for her heart—if she doesn’t betray them first. 

 

 
Title: Hani and Ishu's Guide fo Fake Dating [book depository]

Author: Adiba Jaigirdar

Publisher: Page Street Kids
Published: 25th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I know I should talk less about the covers, but this cover is so cute! 😍 Contemporary romance novels have the cutest covers. If you have been following me/reading my blog, you know I love fake relationships. But more importantly, I love fake relationships that turn into something real. So, of course, I can't wait to get my hands on Hani and Ishu's Guide for Fake Dating.

 

Everyone likes Humaira "Hani" Khan—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita "Ishu" Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl.

Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

 

 
Title: Spells Trouble [book depository]

Author: P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Publisher: Wednesday Books
Published: 25th May 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I love reading about the Salem Trials. I love reading books related to the Salem Trials. I love witches -- especially the wicked ones -- and I love strong sibling friendships. Makes perfect sense to have this book on my list.

 

Double double, twins spell trouble…

Hunter and Mercy Goode are twin witches, direct descendants of the founder of their town of Goodeville. As their ancestors have done before them, it is now time for the twins to learn what it means to be Gatekeepers–the protectors of the Gates to different underworlds, ancient portals between their world and realms where mythology rules and nightmares come to life.

When their mother becomes the first victim in a string of murders, the devastated sisters vow to avenge her death. But it will take more than magic to rein in the ancient mythological monsters who’ve infected their peaceful town.

Now Hunter and Mercy must come together and accept their destiny or risk being separated for good.

What are you can't wait books of May?

If you like my blog and would like to support it, you may use my Book Depository, use my Scribd referral, or buy me a coffee. You may also buy some bookish items from my RedBubble store.

 

Can't Wait Books. February 2021

Let's pretend February has just begun, and I'm not a thousand years late to announce my can't wait books of the month. 😋 Yes, this is a new feature on the blog that many other content creators already do. Since I was not able to share my can't wait books of 2021 at a reasonable time, I decided it would be better to fangirl about all the books I'm dying to read on a monthly basis. Shall we take a look?

 
Title: What Big Teeth [book depository]

Author: Rose Szabo

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 2nd February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I was not very fond of Wilder Girls (even though I did present a paper on it), so I'm a little worried about the comparison. Nevertheless, a Gothic retelling of Red Riding Wood is something I can't wait to read! You know how much I love retellings. ❤️

 

Rose Szabo's thrilling debut is a dark and thrilling novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls.

Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying incident, she goes to the only place she thinks is safe: the home she left behind. But when she gets there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods around the family estate and read fortunes in the guts of birds.

Eleanor finds herself desperately trying to hold the family together — in order to save them all, Eleanor must learn to embrace her family of monsters and tame the darkness inside her.

Exquisitely terrifying, beautiful, and strange, this fierce gothic fantasy will sink its teeth into you and never let go.

 

 
Title: Fat Chance Charlie Vega [book depository]

Author: Crystal Maldonado

Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2nd February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I got Fat Chance Charlie Vega from Edelweiss (download section since my requests are always ignored or declined), but  I did not read it on time. Of course now I'm dying to read this coming of age story about love, friendship, and acceptance.

 

Coming of age as a Fat brown girl in a white Connecticut suburb is hard. Harder when your whole life is on fire, though.

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.

People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it's hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn't help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. Be quieter.

But there's one person who's always in Charlie's corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing--he asked Amelia out first. So is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her? UGHHH. Everything is now officially a MESS.

A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

 

 
Title: Rise of the Red Hand [book depository]

Author: Olivia Chadha

Publisher: Erewhon
Published: 2nd February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: I shall never resist an appealing (and appalling) dystopia. I love how dark Rise of the Red Hand sounds so terrifying and how it tackles major social issues, such as climate change and inequality.

 

A rare, searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia. A streetrat turned revolutionary and the disillusioned hacker son of a politician try to take down a ruthlessly technocratic government that sacrifices its poorest citizens to build its utopia.

The South Asian Province is split in two. Uplanders lead luxurious lives inside a climate-controlled biodome, dependent on technology and gene therapy to keep them healthy and youthful forever. Outside, the poor and forgotten scrape by with discarded black-market robotics, a society of poverty-stricken cyborgs struggling to survive in slums threatened by rising sea levels, unbreathable air, and deadly superbugs.

Ashiva works for the Red Hand, an underground network of revolutionaries fighting the government, which is run by a merciless computer algorithm that dictates every citizen’s fate. She’s a smuggler with the best robotic arm and cybernetic enhancements the slums can offer, and her cargo includes the most vulnerable of the city’s abandoned children.

When Ashiva crosses paths with the brilliant hacker Riz-Ali, a privileged Uplander who finds himself embroiled in the Red Hand’s dangerous activities, they uncover a horrifying conspiracy that the government will do anything to bury. From armed guardians kidnapping children to massive robots flattening the slums, to a pandemic that threatens to sweep through the city like wildfire, Ashiva and Riz-Ali will have to put aside their differences in order to fight the system and save the communities they love from destruction.

 
Title: The Gilded Ones [book depository]

Author: Namina Forna

Publisher: Delacorte
Published: 9th February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Do you know for how long I've been waiting for The Gilded Ones?! I can't believe it will be finally out after its releasing date being pushed so many times! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, and it was only pushed one time. 😋 Anyway, I'm dying to finally meet Deka.

 

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.

 
Title: Fireheart Tiger [book depository]

Author: Aliette de Bodard

Publisher: Tor.com
Published: 9th February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: Aliette de Bodard always creates enthralling settings and complex characters (I know, I know -- I have only read one of her books, but I have most of her books on my wishlist). Fireheart Tiger seems another amazing tale.

 

Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard returns with a powerful romantic fantasy that reads like The Goblin Emperor meets Howl’s Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world.

Fire burns bright and has a long memory….

Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.

Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.

Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?

 
Title: The Wide Startlight [book depository]

Author: Nicole Lesperance

Publisher: Razorbill
Published: 16th February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: The cover of The Wide Starlight is so beautiful! 😍 A beautiful cover for a heart-breaking and magical story. Right? I read some early readers reviews, which claim this novel has a fairy-tale touch, and I'm so excited about it!

 

The Hazel Wood meets The Astonishing Color of After in this dreamy, atmospheric novel that follows sixteen-year-old Eli as she tries to remember what truly happened the night her mother disappeared off a glacier in Norway under the Northern Lights.

Never whistle at the Northern Lights, the story goes, or they'll sweep down from the sky and carry you away.

Sixteen-year-old Eline Davis knows it's true. She was there ten years ago, on a frozen fjord in Svalbard, Norway, the night her mother whistled at the lights and then vanished.

Now Eli lives an ordinary life with her dad on Cape Cod. But when the Northern Lights are visible over the Cape for just one night, she can't resist the possibility of seeing her mother again. So she whistles—and it works. Her mother appears, with snowy hair, frosty fingertips and a hazy story of where she's been all these years. And she doesn't return alone.

Along with Eli's mother's reappearance come strange, impossible things. Narwhals swimming in Cape Cod Bay, meteorites landing in Eli's yard, and three shadowy princesses with ominous messages. It's all too much, too fast, and Eli pushes her mother away. She disappears again—but this time, she leaves behind a note that will send Eli on a journey across continents, to the northern tip of the world:

Find me where I left you.

 
Title: Playing Cupid

Author: S.C. Alban

Publisher: The Parliament House Press
Published: 23th February 2021

 

Why I Can't Wait: So far, every book I've read published by The Parliament House Press has been a little disappointing. However, the premise of Playing Cupid sounds so intriguing (who wouldn't like to be the Cupid for a day?) that I'm giving it a chance.

 

For the past five years, seventeen-year-old Megan Cooper has built a wall around her heart with little room to experience true feelings. However, her entire world shifts the moment she hits Cupid with her car driving home from finals. With his shooting arm significantly injured, she has no choice but to take his place.

Now, as Megan races to find Cupid’s final three love matches in order to meet his quota by the start of the new year, she comes face to face with the very emotions she’s been pushing away for so long.

Caught between what her head is saying and what her heart longs for, Megan must face old wounds, find forgiveness, and track down the perfect match for the one boy she can’t stand.

This YA debut is a touching and heartwarming shot through the heart for teen and adult readers alike!

What are you can't wait books of February?

If you like my blog and would like to support it, you may use my Book Depository, use my Scribd referral, or buy me a coffee. You may also buy some bookish items from my RedBubble store.

Reading & Blogging Challenges. Planning an Epic Year

I know, I know: I am late! I should have begun organizing a new reading and blogging year before 2020 ended. The thing is, I was too scared to look at what I pledge last year because I am aware that I failed miserably at everything. Well, maybe I do not need to be that harsh on myself. I mean, these challenges did help me tackle down my ever-growing TBR pile -- even if I did not meet all of my goals. Anyway, I am once again really excited about the challenges I am joining, and I hope to do a lot better this year. 😊

BEAT THE BACKLIST hosted by @ Novel Knight 

 

It is the fourth year in a row that I am signing up to join Beat The Backlist. As always, this is one of my favourite reading challenges because it helps me read books that have been on my TBR pile for ages. In 2020, I surpassed my initial goal (twenty books), so in 2021 I am hoping to read thirty backlist titles. This year there will be no team challenge -- which might be a good thing since I always forget to update my stats halfway-through the challenge. However, I might join the bingo cards.

 

These are some titles I picked to read in 2021 (I am keeping some titles from last year that I was not able to read):

📚 Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron;

📚 Creatures of Will & Temper by Molly Tanzer;

📚 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn;

📚 Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson;

📚 Partials by Dan Wells;

📚 Orleans by Sherry L. Smith;

📚 Sherwood by Meagan Spooner;

📚 The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso;

📚 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab;

📚 The Jewel by Amy Ewing;

📚 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James; 

📚 The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater; 

📚 The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burg.

DYSTOPIA READING CHALLENGE hosted by Brittani @Game, Read, Teach

In 2020, I think I read six to seven dystopias. "checks on Goodreads how many dystopias she read* 🙈 Yep, and they were all reviewed over there. Since 2021 will be another year of dystopias for me, I am officially joining this challenge again. For the third year in a row, I am aiming for the Rebel badge, in which I have to read and review 6 to 10 dystopian books.

 

2021 MONTHLY KEY WORD READING CHALLENGE & 2021 MONTHLY MOTIF READING CHALLENGE hosted by Kim & Tanya @girlxoxo

I saw these challenges on Sam @We Live and Breathe Words and I immediately knew I had to join them -- especially since I was already reading Winter by Marissa Meyer, being "Winter" one of the keywords and "Once upon a time" January's motif.

 

2021 DISCUSSION CHALLENGE hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

 

By the fourth year in a row (I think), I pledge to myself to share more discussion posts. 😊

This Discussion Challenge always helps me write and share discussion posts about books and everything book-ish. Although, last year, I did not share as many discussion posts as I was expecting to -- writing research essays does take a lot of my free time. 😅

 

If you are interested in joining, this challenge is all about promoting discussions about whatever you want as long as it is related to books and/or book blogging. There are five levels, and I am once again hoping to reach the first one, Discussion Dabbler. 

 
You can use the hashtag #LetsDiscuss2021 to share your progress and connect with other participants on Twitter (this is a great form to give some visibility to discussion posts and find some new interesting articles).

Which challenges will you be joining in 2021?

If you like my blog and would like to support it, you may use my Book Depository or Amazon affiliate link, use my Scribd referral, or buy me a coffee. You may also buy some bookish items from my RedBubble store.

Monthly Recap. January

Goodbye, January! 🥳  January was a month filled with plans (so many to-do lists), but then something happened (you can read all about it below). I do have some very bad luck -- I've been wondering about who has jinxed me when I was born?! Anyway, I really hope February will be a better month and something good comes this way.

What I've been up since in January:

🌻 I tested positive for Covid -- I'm part of that lucky bunch that caught it without leaving home because I live with people who were not working from home and had to deal with irresponsible co-workers who go to work with symptoms (coughing and fever doesn't always have to be the first symptoms). Ps. We have a good health care system, so that person could have missed working days. As a matter of fact, you received your full-salary while you are in quarantine.

🌻 Remember me telling you about my first international conference of the year? I presented my paper, but I did it while experiencing some Covid symptoms. It was not easy...

🌻 Due to getting sick, all my plans for January were put on hold. I'm dying to share with you all the books coming out in 2021 that I can't wait to read.

🌻 Which also means I'm still very much broke. If you wish to help this PhD student to keep working on her thesis through these dark times, you can do it by using her Scrib referral link. Not having to spend one hundred euros on academic anthology does help a lot.

🌻 I received my teaching certificate! 🥳 Now waiting for an opportunity to give it good use.

🌻 I read five books this month. I'm hoping to finish another book before the day ends.

 

• I joined Top Ten Tuesday and shared 13 amazing middle grade adventures that I can't wait to read.
  

• I read and reviewed my first ever physical ARC, Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift. Regarding the world-building, please, take my opinion with a grain of salt. Also, please, read own-voices reviews to be sure that there is nothing wrong regarding representation.

 

I bought Winter by Marissa Meyer back in December (it was a Christmas present). Due to Covid and Brexit, the book only arrived at my mailbox this month. I already read it, loved it, and will without a doubt mention The Lunar Chronicles on my thesis.

 

How was your January? Were you also jinxed when you were born?

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