This is 100% the biggest haul I’ve ever had! 17 books!  Considering my tbr is already huge its probably not the best but I have zero regrets!!!!

Anyway….one of the reasons it’s large is because it was my birthday at the end of May and some lovely book friends bought me presents….BOOKS! I was so happy because my friends and family never ever buy me books or bookish things so I was like a kid at Christmas!

I must apologise for the layout of this post – WordPress hasn’t been playing nice so I can’t scale pictures down, I can’t even add some pictures and I cant add some blocks in – my vein is about to pop out my head!!!!

BIRTHDAY PRESENTS

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Crave by Tracy Wolff
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jenson
Josh and Hazels Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Physical/Ebooks

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Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

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Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas
In the Ravenous Dark by AM Strickland

Arcs

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Fairyloot

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

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What did you haul in June?

Here we are with the halfway update of the Audiobook Challenge for 2021!

You can see my original post here.

The achievement I went for is Socially Awkward which is 15 to 20 listens!

So far this year I have listened to 8 audiobooks which is a bit behind where I wanted to be really so I need keep up the momentum so I can complete.

Here are the books I’ve listened to:

The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

See my review here.

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Mathilda, Superwitch by Kristen Ashley

See my review here.

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A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

See my review here.

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One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

See my review here.

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Set Fire to the Gods by Sarah Raasch and Kristen Simmons

See my review here.

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Pause by Kylie Scott

See my review here.

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Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

See my review here

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Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

See my review here.

Title: Ice Planet Barbarians

Series: Ice Planet Barbarians #1

Author: Ruby Dixon

You’d think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you’d be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they’ve left their cargo of human women – including me – on an ice planet.

And the only native inhabitant I’ve met? He’s big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me…

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Well that was…..ummm different to what I normally read but I needed to read it as it the fomo was burning a hole in me!

So a little run down…Georgie, human, abducted  by aliens who drop them off on a random planet after engine issues, goes out to seek food/help but meets Vertak, blue skinned alien with horns and glowing blue eyes and he certainly wants to help her!!!!!!

This is probably one of the weirdest things I’ve probably read apart from the caveman book (which I loved!) but I needed a bit of smut and I got it! It was fab!!!!

Beat the Backlist Challenge!

Here we are with my 2nd update of 2021 for Beat the Backlist Challenge!

You can see my original post here and my 1st update post here.
At the beginning of the year I said I wanted to read 25 backlist books. For the first quarter of 2021 I went great guns with 15 books read and in this quarter, 10, making a total of 25 so I have upped my total!!!

My new total to read by the end of the year is 40 books!

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

See my review here.

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Set Fire to the Gods by Sarah Raasch and Kristen Simmons

See my review soon!

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City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

See my reviews here and here.

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Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

See my reviews here, here and here.

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

See my review here.

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Ironside by Holly Black

See my review here.

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Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

See my review here.

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Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom – and vengeance.

Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.

Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain – except the lengths they will go to win this game.

This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

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One of my anticipated reads of the year….based solely off the cover!

So here we have witch factions battling for ownership of an island and we were told, trust no witch.

Filled with diversity and Jamaican influence, the world was just magical! The world building and the old tales filled me with joy! I really did enjoy it.

I must admit it was a bit slow going in places, it could’ve done with a bit more faster pacing in the first half but it certainly had me hooked towards the last half!

I loved the fact that the majority of the characters could be described as morally grey and Iraya was like a shining light for me.

Kirdan actually was my fave (oh yes how strange for me, the dark, handsome, secretive lead was my fave!!!) In the next book I need a romance between him and Iraya!

I am defo looking forward to the next book and…..trust no witch!

Aaaah, books, don’t we just love them (hellz yes!)

What better way to spread that love by posting….well, about how much we loved them!

Each year I do a halfway through the year post and a Blogmas post about the best books I’ve read this year….so here is my halfway post!

I had four 5 star reads in January alone!

These are my ‘best books’ of 2021 (not necessarily released then, I read then!)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

See my review here.

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From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout

See my review here.

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Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L Armentrout

See my review here.

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The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

See my review here.

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

See my review here.

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The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

See my review here.

What have been your best books so far?

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Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

THEME: Bookish Wishes

It’s Artsy Reader Girls birthday today so we are celebrating with her!

I don’t normally do stuff like this as it feels a bit grabby but a couple of my book friends said it was a nice idea so here we are!.

Artsy Reader Girl says:

This is a popular thing to do on Twitter, but today we’re blog hopping. Include a link to a wishlist so that people can grant your wish. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like.

So my Amazon wishlist is here: https://amzn.to/3cBROSV

I’ll be hopping about and will grant a wish (or maybe 2!)

Don’t you just love those posts where you give a reading list for the month.

Well I do….but unforts as I am more of a mood reader now, I don’t always read what I said I wanted to!!!

But then I thought seasons are long, like 3 months so surely I could do that?

I posted a Top 10 Tuesday post in March with books I wanted to read in Spring so thought it would be fun to look back (note – probably not fun for me!!!)

My post from March is here. I did swap a couple of the books about (See mood read comment above!!!)

Books

Venom by Bex Hogan

See my review soon!

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Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

See my review here.

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The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

See my review here.

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Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

See my review here.

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The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout

See my review here.

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Wild Wind by Kristen Ashley
See my review here.

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Chase the Dark by Annette Marie
See my review here.

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Ironside by Holly Black

See my review here.

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I made 2 mistakes with books I chose!

Namesake by Adrienne Young doesn’t come out in the UK until 22 June so there was no way I would be able to read before this post so I had to remove this one!

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart – I was waiting for this in a book box I get but the box was delayed due to the issues in the Suez Canal so I have only just receiv But I am reading this now!

But I have read lots of other books as well as these so I count that as a win!

Title: A Queen of Gilded Horns

Series: A River of Royal Blood #2

Author: Amanda Joy

Now on the run, Eva is desperate for answers about her transformation and her true heritage. Along with Aketo, a small contingent of guards, and the sister she could not kill, Eva flees Ternain in hopes of finding friends and allies to the north–not to mention Baccha–to help her decide what to do next. Princess Isa is a difficult, unremorseful captive, and Eva knows better than to trust her sister, but she wants to. Despite their history, Eva is convinced that to survive the growing unrest in the queendom, she and her sister must make peace. Since the Entwining ceremony, Eva’s and Isa’s lives have been bonded, and each can only die by the other’s hand. This perhaps provides an opening for a truce and a more hopeful future for both the sisters and the queendom, if only Isa would see reason and give up the battle for the throne.

With the two princesses on the run, the Queendom of Myre is on the brink of a revolution. And without Baccha to guide and train her magick, Eva must find a way not only to survive her own metamorphosis, but to unite all the people of Myre, including her sister, by finally taking the Ivory Throne.

I loved A River of Royal Blood so couldn’t wait to read this.

And I did really enjoy it. Maybe a tiny little bit slow in parts but loved the old history that came out and all the secrets that were revealed.

The cast of characters in this duology were just amazing! Baddies written with just the right amount of evil and the goodies weren’t portrayed as angels either which I really liked.

Aketo is still my main dude and him and Eva made my heart sing although I would’ve loved to feel their connection a bit more.

I liked the different povs in this book, especially Isa’s.

But there was one character who I did not like, Ysai. I won’t say anymore but if you read, you’ll see!

I really hope there is more from this world, especially featuring Baccha!!!