I have actually started working on bringing this back from the dead. I use a combination of Blogspot and Samsung Notes (to track when I am not able to use the computer). This should help me actually keep up with the things I am trying to do!
With that in mind, let us get moving with this bookish wrap up~
1. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco - I had totally forgotten that I had preordered this until it arrived on my doorstep on the 2nd. I started it immediately. I wasn't sure what I should be expecting. I was pleasantly surprised. Set in Palermo, it is a YA fantasy about witches. We open with twins Emilia and Vittoria praying over their own protection symbols. It was pretty good. This book follows the death of one of the twins and how the other summons one of the Demon Princes of Hell to help her find out who murdered her sister and why. I had forgotten this was a Hades and Persephone retelling, because it's not like the modern versions with Persephone being a damsel in distress. This is the old kind where Persephone was actually pretty scary (for those that don't know, Persephone translates to "destruction"). I liked the way they worked together, and how Emilia never properly trusted Wrath even though he had proved himself over and over. I can't wait to get to the next book in the series.
2. Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco - My second (and final) Kerri Maniscalco book for November. I can't give too much of a synopsis of this, since it is the fourth and final book in the series. All I can say is that the past comes back to haunt them with a vengeance. I liked the way she brought it back, however, I didn't like that it was brought back in the first place. I think she was trying to bring in what originally got the book famous. It was a bit contrived in my personal opinion. I hate Lord Cresswell, like to the point of wanting to hit him. He knew full well that his son would be opposed to the match. People who marry only for money and titles are the worst kind. I'm glad it worked out for them in the end. Though I'm pretty sure he would have changed his tune pretty quickly if he had heard about what Audrey Rose was actually worth. Anyway, this was a beautiful conclusion to the story. I don't think it is though. We all know that marriage is not going to slow Audrey Rose and Thomas down. They are too good at what they do.
3. The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler - I couldn't resist. I grabbed it from the shelf becuase it had books on the cover and in the title. I read the synopsis and absolutely had to. Old books and drowning mermaids. How could I resist? The story was very good. I loved the way that it was told half in Simon's perspective and half in the troupe's. I still have no idea how some characters connect and how they even came into possession of certain objects. It was very good. I thought Enola was a bit rough with her brother, but then someone had to be or he would have descended into chaos. Looking forward to reading more books by Erika Swyler in the future. She has an interesting style that I like.
4. Blood Stained Tea by Amy Tasukada - I loved it. I saw it in an ad from BookBub or possibly Freebooksy, I forget, but when I saw that it was available as a print book, I just had to. I picked it up and started it right away. This follows a former Japanese yakuza member as he finds and helps a Korean mafia member back to health. As they grow closer, it becomes more obvious what is going to happen in the book and where the pieces actually lay. I was kind of surprised by the ending. I didn't think that was quite the way it was going to turn out. Nao had been trying to get away from the life of a yakuza and instead he ends up falling deeper into it. Though this does make me rather wary of any and all tea shop owners. Who knows what's behind their façade? I am looking very forward to the sequel Better than Suicide, which I already bought.
5. Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler - I technically got this for a friend and am temporarily borrowing it back (now permanently as they no longer practice the witchcraft religion and do not want the book any more!) and I figured I would give it a read since it is one of the eminent books on the subject. I listened to this one via audio and am quite pleased with the way it was written. She breaks down important information into chunks that are manageable. Unlike other books, though, she does not put a lot of practice materials into it for the young to do. It really was just more of a history primer. Interesting to read.
6. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - I got this one through Once Upon a Book Club and as I have been interested in Matt Haig for a while, I decided to read it immediately (if I have no interest in the book, I open the gifts and just put the book away on the bookshelves). This author however was one on my list of books I wanted to read from so, let's do this! I loved the premise of someone being on the verge of death and their own subconscious creating a space where they could live out alternate versions of their life. The ending though was brilliant. It took her a long time to realize something important that I kind of picked up from the start. The only life they could truly stay in was the "root" life. None of the others were the proper fit. It's like wearing someone else's shoe. Yeah it may be the same size, but it won't feel right ever because it's not yours. Hoping I can get more Matt Haig books in the future.
7. Coming Up for Air by Amanda Meuwissen - I loved it. It was so weird. It sort of gave me combination Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid vibes. Leigh is a thief who is good at well, thieving. We literally open with him in a river about to drown. He thinks he hallucinates a pretty face and the next thing he knows, the pretty face is showing up at his door naked (mostly? In an old lady's nightie...). Anyway, no one really expects Tolomeo "Tolly" to show up. I thought the way he was written was really good. He was so afraid of what Leigh would think of him based solely on what he really looked like. Even though Leigh rarely thought of it. If you want a really good, only slightly mushy romance....I'd pick this one up.
8. Assassination Classroom #14 by Yusei Matsui - I don't think I've ever wanted to hit an imaginary man more in my life. Headmaster Asano is so wrapped up in his idea that you are only a successful winner if you utterly destroy your enemies is going to get him killed one of these days. Even his own son has realized that there is merit to losing now and then. I loved how the high school gang went there to demoralize them and ended up loving it. And poor Yuji! I feel bad that he was still tricked into thinking Nagisa was a girl. At least it ended well for the students. I'm betting if the high school was not part of the festival (as in separate parts for the junior and regular high students), Class 3-E may have been in 2nd place over all. Even though there was no way they were going to defeat 3-A, they still did an amazing job. I'm looking forward to getting the next volume and finding out more of what is happening with Koro-sensei and Asano. Wonder what's in that last grenade...?
9. The First Step by Tao Wong - This was brilliant. I had watched and adored The Untamed on Netflix, a wuxia story. Then I discovered there were more wuxia/xanxia stories to be had. Great tales of cultivators of the Taoist arts from ancient China. An easy sell to me. I needed it. So I had to read this when I saw this on....I wanna say Freebooksy. Either way, I ended up picking up a physical copy of the book and I read it quite quickly once I started. It tells the story of Long Wu Ying as he cultivates. He starts out in a peasant village and is brought into a sect known as the Verdant Green Waters Sect to train as a member of the outer sect in hopes of winning the tournament and joining the inner sect. He is sent on a mission that is unheard of for outer sect members after he broke rules that he didn't even know were rules. You would think they would have known he would be clueless, knowing who his sponsor is. He does make it to the inner sect and that's where the novel ends. I loved how he didn't let anyone pest him. I enjoyed his burgeoning friendship with the former monk, Tou He. This looks like the kind of thing I am going to adore. I am looking forward to getting the rest of the series.
10. Beneath the Moon by Yoshi Yoshitani - I grabbed this one because of something else Yoshitani produced. I bought a copy of the Tarot of the Divine. A beautiful deck that uses folklore and legends for each of the cards. My favorite cards in this deck include Judgement (Sun Wukong, the monkey king) and the Eight of Wands (John Henry) because I'm very familiar with their stories. It makes me smile knowing that...Mx Yoshitani chose their sources from literally all over the place for the works. The book was a simple compilation of all of the legends and folklore drawn from for the cards themselves. While it would have made more sense had they gone in the same order of the cards in the guidebook, but it was still really good to be able to read the associated legends, even in their highly abridged forms (I know Sun Wukong's story is much longer. I own it.).
11. A Hero Born by Jin Yong - I have been obsessed with ancient/historical China recently and this book sparked my interest almost immediately. I loved it. We follow a young man as he grows up far from his home and is accepted by a people considered to be the enemy. His father is murdered before his birth and his mother fless to the north to escape the murderer. There she gives birth to her son, Guo Jing, and raises him with the help of none other than the man who would become Genghis Khan. I did get a bit confused when we were told one thing would happen and it then seemed like something else was going on. I liked how we aren't outright told at first who is who, but it was kind of obvious when you paid attention to the background description. I adored this book and I hope to find the second one soon. I think Jin Yong may be a new favorite author of mine.
12. THICK by Tressie McMillan Cottam - This is a series of essays written by the author and reprinted in this book. While it was not bad, it was not quite what I was expecting. I enjoyed it and I think it opened my eyes to a lot of things that they hadn't already been open to. I don't think I would read anything else by her specifically, but I will likely look into more in the same general theme.
