Monday Muse (3)

Hey fam! Happy Monday! Or something - are Mondays ever really happy? Let's change that! Today I'm sharing another Monday Muse post, which features my hobbies other than reading.

I'm still coloring in my Johanna Basford 17-18 planner! I love coloring. There is something so relaxing about it. Who says adults can't color?!

This page is one that I had started last week, and I'm almost finished with it. There are so many tiny details! I got a little bored with it but I will finish this week.

This one is the new one I started when I got bored of the one above:

I love the hummingbirds. 😍 I can't wait to color those.

I am failing MISERABLY in terms of my Icelandic studies. But I wanted to share this great series I found on YouTube, which breaks down vocabulary! The first lesson is fruit:

And because I can't be stopped with my love of huskies, here is a cute husky puppy (actually a pomsky - Pomeranian + husky) in a mailbox:

Best mail ever! @preciouspomskies

A post shared by Husky Puppies (@huskymag) on Aug 1, 2018 at 9:53am PDT

Last week was a bit boring in terms of hobbies but I will try to do better this week. I need to do better with the Icelandic for sure! I'll be heading there before I know it. 😍

August 2018 New Release Giveaway!

Welcome to the August New Release Giveaway Hop! The August New Release Giveaway hop is hosted by It Starts At Midnight and FLYLēF. 

This month, I'm giving an August '18 book that I read (or hope to read)! Your choices are: 

    

    

(Click on the covers for more information!)

The Giveaway:

Win an August '18 book pictured above! Print or ebook (print = The Book Depository only).  It must be one pictured above. Winner has 48 hours to respond. The usual Giveaways rules apply.

Open INTERNATIONALLY! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacking the Shelves (#293)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, in which bloggers share the books and swag they've received in the past week!

So, what did I get in the week of Sunday, July 29th to Saturday, August 4th?

(all links to Goodreads are provided!)

In the mail:

An ARC of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

Thank you, Penguin Teen! 

Ruby Red trilogy boxed set by Kerstin Gier

Thank you, Jessica! She traded with me and I got this lovely brand-new set of paperbacks. I adore this series and am so happy to have the set!

From Edelweiss:

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

I cannot wait to read Kasie's latest!

Reviews from this week:

(Click on the cover to go to my review!)

This week was so long - it really dragged by! I had a great day yesterday and am hoping this weekend is a good one. I need the R&R!

My Favorite YA Time-Travel Novels

Happy Friday, bookworms! Today is another day in which I didn't feel like writing/posting a review, but did feel like posting something... so I'm doing another favorites post! You can check out my other favorites posts in a previous posts (for example). 

Here are some of my YA time-travel novels! I actually never used to like time-travel novels, or parallel universe ones (though that's a different topic). But apparently, I've enjoyed most of the YA time-travel novels I've read!

    

    

    

There are others that I've read, like Summer of Yesterday (Triana) and After Eden (Douglas), but I didn't like those as much. Do you have any YA time-travels to recommend? With swoony romance preferred!

Swoon Thursday (#288): Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi

- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting

This week, my swoon is from Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi!

"That's only fair, my queen," he said. His voice seemed to borrow some of the darkness around them, and Gauri's heartbeats started to race, tangling together in anticipation. "I'll do my utmost to convey the very depths of my sorrow." He dropped his head to the slope where her neck met her shoulders and kissed her there. "Though I must warn you, it will be a long apology."

- eARC, 91%

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Ivy Bookshop

I don't usually read novellas, but I loved this collection of novellas. There are three in the collection and each is quite good. Read my review HERE!

Waiting on Wednesday (#292): Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm featuring:

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: March 19, 2019

Summary (from Goodreads):

Robin of Locksley is dead. 

When news comes that he's fallen in battle at the King's side in the Holy Land, Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on. Betrothed to Robin, she was free to be herself, to flout the stifling rules of traditional society and share an equal voice with her beloved when it came to caring for the people of her land.

Now Marian is alone, with no voice of her own. The people of Locksley, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, are doomed to live in poverty or else face death by hanging. The dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sherriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley, and Marian’s fiancé. Society demands that she accept her fate, and watch helplessly as her people starve.

When Marian dons Robin's green cloak, and takes up his sword and bow, she never intended that anyone should mistake her for Robin, returned from the Holy Land as a vigilante. She never intended that the masked, cloaked figure she created should stand as a beacon of hope and justice to peasant and noble alike. She never intended to become a legend.

But all of Nottingham is crying out for a savior. So Marian must choose to make her own fate and become her own hero...

Robin Hood.

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Ivy Bookshop

I have read nearly all of Spooner's books and enjoyed them! Her Skylark series, her Starbound series, Hunted, and Unearthed. Hunted is my favorite book of hers. I cannot wait for this new standalone!

Top Ten Tuesday (20)

Happy Tuesday! Today I've decided to participate in Top Ten Tuesday, formerly hosted by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish, now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today's topic is: 

Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype

Hype is of course very subjective, but all of these books were very hyped up before publication and even after publication! And I loved them all. I could have easily listed more than ten but ten is good enough! =)