Hi everyone! DiniPandaReads tagged me on this book tag and I think it’s pretty obvious by now that I like doing east tags lol. This one is very easy so let’s check it out:
The Serpent and the Wings of Nights by. Carissa Broadbent
Did this book meet your expectations?
It exceeded my expectations because I went in with very low expectations! I wanted a romantasy, one with an enemies to lovers vibe, an MC that isn’t naive and a story with vampires. It checked off all the boxes!
Would you recommend this book to people?
Definitely, especially if you like romantasy and vampires!
What is your current read?
Why did you pick this book?
Because of the author, and that cover! I also heard many good things about the story so this was a must read for me.
How much time do you think it’ll take you to finish your current read?
I would have been finished this week if I didn’t have so much going on plus my daughter caught the flu so I’ve been Nurse Mom again. Hopefully I can finish by this weekend or next.
What genre would you like to read next?
I’ve been reading a bunch of fantasy so I’ll switch up to contemporary romance – a few of my arcs, just to keep it balanced.
What would you like to pick: a long read or a short read?
I never want it too long or too short. A good 350+ book is perfect for me.
Mention some books you’re eyeing!
It’s fall so I want all the dark themed books!
This was such an easy tag to do! I’m not going to pick 5 people specifically so if you want to do this tag, go for it! Thanks for reading!
This month’s birthstone book cover is Sapphire for the month of September. This is such a beautiful birthstone! The original creator of this book tag is Leslie @ Books Are The New Black so go check out her blog!
THE RULES
Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back to me so I can see your post!
Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
HAVE FUN!
Nominate people if you want!
Sapphire is the birthstone for September
If you are into gemstone properties it is said that Sapphire attracts abundance and blessings.
Let’s find some book covers in this color:
Blue is definitely one of the more popular book covers out there I think, my shelf has more blue book covers than any other color and sapphire blue really is lovely.
I nominate everyone! It’s a fun and easy tag to do so try it out. ☺️
I’ve been seeing this on one of my favorite blogs DiniPandaReadsand thought to give it a try since I love book cover posts! The original creator is Leslie @ Books Are The New Black so go check out their blogs!
THE RULES
Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back to me so I can see your post!
Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
HAVE FUN!
Nominate people if you want!
Peridot is the birthstone for August
If you are into gemstone properties it is said that Peridot is the stone of compassion. It is supposed to bring you good health and peace by helping you balance emotions and thoughts.
Let’s see if we can find some book covers that match this very unique color:
That was hard! 😅 And you know what my kids like to call this color? Grellow (green-yellow). 😂 It’s my son’s birthstone and I think it’s as unique as he is. Happy birthday to all you August babies!
I nominate everyone! It’s a fun and easy tag to do so try it out. ☺️
I saw this tag on the blog Hundreds & Thousands of Books so check out her blog for more amazing book content! I wanted to do this tag since my daughter has been playing Animal Crossing New Horizons all week, so I thought this would be fun. 🥰 All credit goes to Bookish Things and Tea for the super cute graphics!
Answer the following Animal Crossing themed book questions.
Feel free to use graphics, but be sure to credit Bookish Things and Tea.
Tag some friends to spread the love!
So this was on my Kindle Unlimited for the past month and I still haven’t read it. I will eventually read it lol…sometime this year?
The first book was such a struggle to push through but I did and had no regrets because the rest of the series is amazing. So The Heart Forger had only room to go up after the slow first book, Bone Witch.
I’d say Crescent City is a pretty large fantastical city that SJM has built in her series. I kinda wish it was a real place I could visit! But nope, only in my mind will it exist lol.
I feel like I don’t read a lot of new releases, I guess I can count arcs that become new releases but as far as books I didn’t read arcs for and was released in 2022 – this book would be it.
I’m gonna go old school with this one and my first copy of this book was so tattered by the time I became an adult lol – I read this in 1991! I was barely a teenager and this book/series had me in a chokehold through all my teen years. I even read it in my 20’s, but yeah…it’s what made me love all things vampires, supernatural, paranormal – whatever that was different. I’ll always have a space in my heart for it, even with the new copies that I just don’t touch lol.
Patrick in The Guncle is a Character with emphasis on that capital C! lol He is the moment – he is the book – he is a mess sometimes, but he is really something. Add in his niece and nephew and this book is filled with so much character.
This is a book that I read last year and thought it was a unique account of the Jews that fled into the forest to evade capture from the Nazis. It’s a harrowing tale, but interwoven with mystical elements but an inspiring tale about survival.
I mean…just because it was a total miss for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you, but this was such a struggle for me to get through. I DNF’ed at 20% in but read the ending lol…
This was such a cute tag to do and I won’t tag anyone but feel free to do it if you want!
I was supposed to do this in June but I was recovering from covid and then things got crazy busy! SO let’s do it now since we are now in July.
BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2022
I don’t have many 5 star reads this year. Guncle made me laugh and hurt my heart at the same time and it was my most recent 5 star read, so it’s my favorite so far!
BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2022
I know this one was published at the tail end of 2021 but it is still the best sequel I’ve read in 2022!
NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO
I just read my first book by Tessa Bailey and loved it. I so want to read this one, hopefully I can borrow it sometime this year.
MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR
I’m a broken record at this point! I think you’ve seen this book on so many of my TTT TBR lists. 😅 SOON!! I can hardly wait!
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
I was bummed I didn’t like this one especially because I thought the first was so wacky, wild and funny! For this one the humor wore out for me – maybe I wasn’t in the mood for it? Not sure.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
This one surprised me with how much I ended up liking it! The dog was just a fun, sassy character that made the whole book wholesome and funny.
FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR (debut or new to you)
I enjoyed this book a lot and look forward to reading the next book and other books that author writes! And come on – look at that cover!!
NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH
How could I not crush on Brendan? I like a guy who can fix things, build things, not afraid of working hard and a generous lover! 🤷🏻♀️
NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER
I love an antiheroine – especially one as snarky as Violet.
BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY
Anything with grief, dealing with abuse, broken families…UGH…these books made my heart hurt so much.
BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY
Romance makes me happy and I had to throw in Guncle again because the kids made me happy.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT SO FAR THIS YEAR (or received)
I wish I had a copy of A Magic Steeped in Poison – I borrowed it from the library. But I did just get a copy of Ramon and Julieta. I love the colors!
WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?
FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION YOU’VE SEEN THIS YEAR
Heartstopper is so heart-felt and sweet! You can’t just help but melt as the characters fall in love.
Thank you to Elli @ AceReader for tagging me in The Book Snob Tag. I think I was a book snob when I was younger but not so much now. I have no energy to be one now 😅. Let’s see how I do with these questions:
Format Snob // You can only choose 1 format in which to read books for the rest of your life. Which one do you choose: physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks?
If I had money to spend and space for shelves I would probably be a physical book snob. I can’t do audiobooks and I’ve tried a few times. For now though I do most of my reading with eBooks!
Adaptation Snob // Do you always read the book before watching the film/ TV show?
I used to read most of the books before the film/TV Show came out because years ago YA books or just books I read in general would hardly make it to the screen. That changed with Twilight. But yeah I never expected the books I read would make it on the screen but it’s a whole new ballgame now! So many books are making it to the screen that now I have no time to read them all beforehand – so I don’t! Plus I used to be critical of book adaptations – but now I just realize they are two different beasts and I can love both without stressing about every little change. 😅
Ship Snob // Would you date or marry a non-reader?
I have dated non-readers but I did marry someone who is a reader (or used to be lol). He’s more of a gamer than reader but he comes from a family of readers so his mom is always gifting me books, which is sweet. Now our kids are readers, which is nice!
Genre Snob // You have to ditch one genre – never to be read again for the rest of your life. Which one do you ditch?
I can ditch horror. 🤷🏻♀️ Thrillers and Suspense is a good substitute for me.
Community Snob // Which genre do you think receives the most snobbery from the bookish community?
I think romance always gets hated on but it’s the genre that got me addicted to reading so I love romance. Sometimes it’s hard for me to enjoy a book without even a little bit of romance in it.
Snobbery Recipient // Have you ever been snubbed for something that you have been reading or for reading in general?
I can’t say I’ve ever been snubbed but I’ve always felt my love of Young Adult would make people wonder why I bother reading it at my age, 43 going on 44! 😆 But hey…I like to reminisce about my young adult years – it’s when life is starting and I have to escape from adulting okay?! lol…most people leave me alone since the people around me don’t read. 🤷🏻♀️
Here we have the Meet the Book Blogger Tag and I was tagged byDini @ dinipandareads. Check out her beautiful blog for more bookish content! Thanks for tagging me Dini!
Hi everyone, my name is Yolanda. Of course I love to read since this blog is about books. I’m a mom of 2 wonderful kids, ages 9 and 5. I was born and raised in Hawaii but went to college in California and even lived there for a tiny bit. I love to travel but haven’t left this island for the past 10 years while I was raising my kids, but that’s changing in a few weeks – so excited to travel! I’m a stay at home mom but used to (or still) work from home running my own Etsy shop. I ran it pretty much part-time when my son was younger and business was booming. I cut back tremendously when my baby girl was born and was gonna jump back into it as she got older, then the pandemic happened. I do it on a very small scale now, barely part-time haha, but I’m fine with it for now. I do metal-stamping and resin (sometimes).
SOMETHING MOST EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW…DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?
My daughter has a betta fish named True. And we have our 1.5 years old scruffy boy named Atlas. ❤️
This toothy boy is named Atlas
He loves soft fuzzy socks…to carry around and destroy lol
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO DRINK?
Mostly ice-cold water for everyday. On days I need caffeine (which is every day), I do decaf iced-tea or for a treat a decaf mocha cookie crumble frappuccino from Starbucks or a decaf cookies and creme ice blended from Coffee Bean.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON?
We don’t have much of a Fall or Winter in Hawaii. Fall feels like summer weather these days so I’ll say winter just because we get more rain and somewhat cooler weather.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL TALENTS?
I can play piano but I’m rusty. I sometimes play when my kids are tinkering around, on the piano (electric) my hands are just not fast as before!
BLOGGING
WHEN AND WHY DID YOU START YOUR BLOG?
I started my blog when I heard about NetGalley! I wanted a chance to read arcs and I’m so glad I did it. The first year I started the blog I read so much I had a sore neck and headaches 😅. I told myself I could cut back the next year and I went easier on myself. I’m happy with the pace I’m going now, it’s much more doable.
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WISH YOU KNEW ABOUT BLOGGING WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED?
That I should pace myself on requesting books on NetGalley and not try to do so much the first year! I almost burned myself out on reading.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE HARDEST PART ABOUT BLOGGING?
Having posts ready to go but I’ve gotten better at doing them ahead of time. Also trying to engage and read everyone’s blog. I try my best to do it though!
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST REWARDING PART OF BLOGGING?
Being a part of a community with people who have similar interests in reading is so wonderful! I’m not surrounded by many friends that read or have time to read and yet reading is a big part of my life so I love that about blogging and meeting fellow book lovers. 🥰
DO YOU WRITE YOUR POSTS AHEAD OF TIME OR WRITE THEM THE DAY OF POSTING?
Yes…and yes! LOL. I try to get most of them written a week before. Weekly wrap-ups get written a day before hence why sometimes I’m not on time with finishing or posting them. There are some days I will forget to get some things written up but for the most part, they are written ahead of time.
READING
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVOURITE AUTHORS?
Not in any order because that’s too much pressure lol…
Holly Black
Kristin Hannah
Angie Thomas
Sarah J. Maas
Danielle L. Jensen
WHAT GENRE DO YOU READ THE MOST?
It has to have romance but I think I read more fantasy or romantasy lol…but yeah I think definitely more fantasy.
WHAT GENRE SURPRISED YOU BY HOW MUCH YOU LOVE IT?
I like the whole gothic romance or gothic thriller genre. Sometimes when I need a break from everything else, I look for something in that genre.
WHICH POPULAR BOOK DIDN’T LIVE UP TO THE HYPE FOR YOU?
This one was just okay for me but I still have to try her other books!
WHO ARE SOME POPULAR AUTHORS YOU HAVEN’T READ?
Oh so many! T.J Klune is one that is so popular right now that I want to read.
WHAT UPCOMING RELEASE ARE YOU EXCITED TO READ?
Here’s just a few! And why are the covers so dark? lol I need to add some light-hearted contemporary romance in this list for sure.
DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE READING?
No, I usually read at night when the house is nice and quiet – but when I’m blogging, for sure I need music!
WHERE ELSE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
Twitter: @ylmpastmidnight (I’m hardly on though)
Instagram: @ylmpastmidnight (I’ll post sporadically) or @fancifulwishcraft (crafting acct)
Is it weird that it’s only now that I’ve noticed the ThursTag phrase? I’ve been blogging for a few years now and have haven’t seen it at all. 😅 Is the wordpress algorithm not working for me? It makes me wonder if I’m never on wordpress working on my blog on Thursdays but that can’t be right. I feel like I’m always on here! Anyway, I loved seeing the ThursTag posts on my feed, and finally got some tags to try out.
I saw this one on Charlotte Somewhere last week who got it from Steph at alittlebutalot – check out both their blogs for more bookish content!
So let’s check out some of these 90’s Movies, shall we?
SHE’S ALL THAT
NAME A BOOK COUPLE THAT IS AN ODD PAIRING BUT THEY STILL FIT PERFECTLY
I think El and Orion are an odd pairing that grew on me. But she is grumpy, sassy, rude, not very likable or sociable but she’s a survivor. And Orion is the one who is worshipped at school, he’s the hero, he’s the nice guy and the two of them together seem so wrong – but by the end of the book, they are right for each other.
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
A BOOK/SERIES THAT YOU HAVE A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH
UGH….this scene. 💔
I was obsessed with this series, books one and two are awesome and then…this one. I loved the romance, it’s what I was hoping for, but the story went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting. And it was confusing – it didn’t have to be that way. So I love the romance because that turned out the way I wanted…but everything else in this book was so disappointing.
CLUELESS
A CHARACTER THAT IS TOTALLY CLUELESS BUT YOU LOVE THEM ANYWAY
Kate wasn’t clueless per se but she did have her head in the clouds, the theater clouds. Also she was a bit judgmental when it came to the jocks so she was a bit clueless about that. Sort of like how Cher was judgmental about her step-bro lol (yikes I forgot she hooks up with her step-bro in the movie…no blood relation but still)
TITANIC
NAME A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY
Bawled my eyes out reading this one. 😢
AMERICAN PIE
A BOOK THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH
This story is over the top, slapstick humor and just a fun time!
CAN’T HARDLY WAIT
A BOOK WITH A CRAZY PARTY
This is a party where anything and everything happened!
CRUEL INTENTIONS
NAME A CHARACTER YOU CAN NEVER FULLY TRUST
Jacks! He’s such a gorgeous bad boy – I can never trust him. lol
DRIVE ME CRAZY
NAME YOUR FAVOURITE “BOY NEXT DOOR” OR “GIRL NEXT DOOR” COUPLE
This one was super cute and fun!
SCREAM
A BOOK WITH A MEMORABLE VILLAIN
There are some pretty good villains in this story!
THE CRAFT
NAME A BOOK WITH WITCHES
This book is full of witches!
And there you have it! All these movies bring back so many memories for me – I enjoyed them all back in the day and have seen them multiple times. This was definitely a fun tag post to do! ~ Yolanda
Hi everyone! I saw this tag done on Dinipandareads and One Book More and thought it looked like a lot of fun. I also wanted to test my memory lol. Let’s try it out!
You have to answer the prompts without using the internet or looking at your bookshelves.
Your answers have to all come from memory!
Make sure to link to the person who originally tagged you (no one tagged me)
Once you’re done, you can tag five other people if you’d like.
Name a book written by an author called Michael
Judith Michael? A romance writer I believe – I think I read a few of her books back in the day…in the 90’s lol.
Name a book with a dragon on the cover
Name a book about a character called George
George?! Yikes…I have no clue!
Name a book written by an author with the surname Smith
L.J.Smith who wrote Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle and more…
Name a book set in Australia
Apparently I don’t read many books set in Australia! I have no clue, although one of the first books I reviewed for this blog was set in Australia…but I cannot for the life of me remember the title, but I do remember the cover being blue lol. Not a big help, I know! 🤦🏻♀️
Name a book with thename of a month in the title
I know what the book looks like and the title goes something like Thousand Doors in January 😅. You know what I’m talking about!!😆 I have a bad memory as proof of this post!
Name a book with a knife on the cover
Name a book with the word ‘one’ in the title
This is impossible to do without Google lol…
Name a book with an eponymous title
What does eponymous mean?! Definitely googling that…”named after a particular person”…
Name a book turned into a movie
The Fault in Our Stars by. John Green
I’m not tagging anyone – this one is hard but fun to do. As you can see I didn’t do to well haha. Makes me wonder how I survived without Google. It’s like how did I drive around without GPS and smartphones? I did survive someone 😅…paper maps were fun lol.
Good luck if you happen to try this – I’d love to see your answers. ~ Yolanda
Past Midnight 