November TBR: Netgalley November, Nonfiction November, Novellas for November, Remember November…so much to read!

Hello Everyone,

Made with Canva.

I have a lot of projects this month and decided this year I’m not doing NaNoWriMo. Instead reading will be my primary focus, especially arcs as I have found that I have approximately 389 arcs on Netgalley…not counting the titles that got backlisted and are no longer there, oops. I have taken a year away for personal reasons but now I really need to play catch up. 2022 is already looking to being busy busy busy. But I’m hoping to get the arcs to a more manageable number. Sooner rather than later. Anyway here’s my ambitious November Tbr!

Netgalley Arcs To Read:

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There’s way more arcs, of course, but these are my hopefuls! Then we have the nonfiction books on my tbr.

Nonfiction November:

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I hope to do more than four, but honestly I generally don’t read a lot of nonfiction books. I have a few others I *might* can squeeze in…

Novellas for November:

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These are the most immediate on my tbr, a few I have to wait for my library to get them. Network Effect is also an arc for Netgalley so bonus for that!

Remember November:

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So many many books that I simply didn’t get to this year, and probably won’t be able to still. There’s authors who have large lists of books that I’ve only read a few. Classics that I hoped to read but didn’t manage it. Bestsellers. Prize winners. Favorite authors I still haven’t read of all their back titles. It was a good reading year but there’s still so much to read! Here’s hoping that the last two months of this year I can manage better than I had the past two.

Historathon:

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A few of these you’ll have seen on here before. But I’m doubling up because some of these books are quite huge . These are series that I haven’t finished, or historical books I put off reading. The longest one I think (I could be wrong) is The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I’m not sure how big Diana’s last book in Outlander is yet but I look forward to finding out. I doubt I’ll get to all of these this year but I’m still quite hopeful. Hope your reading is going equally well. Let me know what I should prioritize in the comments!

Until next time,

-Pass Me That Book

ARC Kindle Review: Hearts Abroad #1

Title: Hearts Abroad
Author: Skye McNeil
Series: Book 1
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Page Count:
Type of Book: ARC, Kindle Ebook, Amazon Gifted
Received: from the publisher/author
Review Word Count:
Rated: 4/5 stars
Notes: @BewareoftheReader you might enjoy this one! I know how much you love a good romance story!

Notes2: First time I’ve tagged anyone here on wordpress, hopefully I got it right!

I love fluffy romance, but I generally have to be in the right mood to read them. This was one of the better fluffy romances that I’ve read, and ranks right up there with Mary Poppins and all the fluffy Harlequin holiday movies you can probably think of. It’s a feel-good love story, complete with twin little girls and a billionaire single dad.

I really liked this one. I won’t say I loved it, because I don’t think I’m there yet, but I can definitely see myself re-reading this again and again in the future, because it’s just that much of a fun book to read. I really liked how this one had art exhibits, planes, and even an enormous library. Scotland was mentioned quite a bit, and as the next book may take place in Scotland, I’m definitely interested in reading the continuation of the duology? Series?-not sure how many books will be in this, but they’re definitely well worth reading.

There’s even an Alfred in this book, and he’s even compared to the same Alfred from Batman, which I found hilariously awesome.

Overall, I’m rating this a 4/5 stars for the delightful atmosphere this book had, and the perfect timing in wanting to read an entertaining and fluffy hearted romance. My thanks to the publisher/author for providing me with this light atmospheric novel, and I highly recommend it to romance and contemporary fans all.

Until next time,
-Pass Me That Book.

Book Spotlight: Priest of Bones

 

This book starts off heavy, with an attempted rape scene of two women, a regiment of soldiers left off of the war so that they have no one to kill, no pay coming in, and all of them are now trained and professional killers. It’s dark, and it’s grim, so with the book review, I will definitely include several warnings about what all this book entails so that readers aren’t caught off guard with the sheer violence of it. Though I knew from reading the two words ‘war’ and ‘bones’ in the title that this was my kind of book i.e: dark and violent with plenty of likeable characters, I know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if those people have triggers.

Priest of Bones is a debut novel, a grimdark fantasy set in a world where war is over, and everyone is trying to acclimate in getting back into the civilian life. Or at least, that’s what they’re supposed to do. The Priest seems like he’s going to be a badass of a character, and I’m eager to delve more into the book.

 

It’s a dangerous thing, to choose the lesser of two evils.

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety finally heads home with Lieutenant Bloody Anne at his side. When he arrives in the Stink, Tomas finds that his empire of crime has been stolen from him while at war. With his gang of Pious Men, Tomas will do whatever it takes to reclaim his businesses. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, and is forced to work in secret for the sinister Queen’s Men, everything gets more complicated.

When loyalties stretch to the breaking point and violence only leads to violence, when people have run out of food, and hope, and places to hide, do not be surprised if they have also run out of mercy. As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the backstreet taverns and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life it becomes clear; the war is not over.

It is only just beginning.

~~~Book Summary From Goodreads~~~

This book promises to be one of the best grimdark fantasies in a while that I’ve read. It’s been grabbing attention from all my favorite fantasy bloggers, and it’s definitely getting a lot of well-deserved hype. If you haven’t checked this book out by now, I promise you it’s definitely well worth doing so, because you are missing out! In fact, I’m loving this book so much that I’ve made art for it!

I should have a review of this up within a couple of days, definitely by the end of the week at the very latest. I’m over halfway through reading, and I’m crossing my fingers hoping that this isn’t going to have a truly terrible cliffhanger where I shall have to wait for a year for book two to come out, but its definitely leaning that way with how the situation stands.

To finalize, this book is awesome and I’m off to go finish it as it’s staring at me from my kindle screen, waiting impatiently to be read.

Until next time,
-Pass Me That Book

Book Spotlight: Halls of Law

I have two books that I really need to write reviews on, so I’m writing a post on it and procrastinating! (The things that most bloggers/readers do so well!)

 

 

This series looks so interesting! With a main female lead named Kerida who works in the military, and has the lowest rank yet her rank still matters even when the man comes to test and see if she has a Talent. When it appears that she did have a Talent and suppressed it, she is swept away to go to the Halls of Law for the rest of her natural life.

I really don’t like the idea of the law system here and how it works, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about reading it. I hope it’s not what I’m thinking, where people get little to no free will in regards to certain laws. Like: this is how it is so this is how it must be therefore you have no recourse or can’t do a thing about it kind of thing and that just infuriates me. Usually I don’t mind if it’s something that makes sense and is for the good of everyone (like not polluting Earth, people still do it, but most know it shouldn’t be done and some even get fined for it) but if it’s for something else, I really don’t know. We’ll see how this turns out.

Also, may I just say how cool is the name “Kerida”? I love how it rolls right off the tongue like that, such a simple yet unique name!

I’ve already started book one, and I’m about five chapters in. I’m really liking the characters, and the world-building is really showing promise too. I should have a review for this within the week, if not sooner!

Until next time,

-Pass Me That Book.

ARC Review: Prisoner of Night and Fog

 

Title: Prisoner of Night and Fog
Author: Anne Blankman
Series: Book One
Genre: YA, Historical
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Belzhar+Bray/Penguin
Type of Book: Arc, Paperback
Review Word Count: 500
Rated: 5/5 stars
Notes:

This was a fascinating book. It tells the story of Herr Hitler in a unique light, from the perspective of a family member. Gretchen Mueller calls Herr Hitler “Uncle Dolf”, and is one of the most esteemed girls in the country of Germany during the ‘rise of the Fuhrer’. She has no idea of what’s really going on, believing everything that her Uncle tells her to be true. She is a favorite of Herr Hitler because her father gave his life, protecting him from bullets. She lives a life that is privileged, cherished, and full of fear of her brother who is obviously a psychopath-devoid of emotion, cruel, a bully, and abusive.

Gretchen tells of how she searches for answers to why her father died with bullets in his back instead of his front, for hadn’t he been shielding Herr Hitler? But with every turn she finds answers she doesn’t like, truths that are hard to ignore, and danger around every corner. Her life becomes a confusing mess, and she realizes how few friends she really has, and that there is no one, not even Hitler himself, that she can trust.

{I must warn readers that there is one suicide in this book, a dear friend of Gretchen kills herself towards the back half of the book. There’s also her brother that abuses her, and there was one scene where Herr Hitler asked if she wished to become her beau/lover and she flees in confused fear.}

The book was very well done, there was plenty of action, romance, and mystery throughout the entirety of the book, all up to the happy non-cliffhanger ending, of which pleased me. I really like this author’s writing style, and definitely look forward to reading more of her books in the future. While this book was a bit darker for a ya novel than I was expecting, the historical details were very well done, and I really enjoyed seeing things from a unique perspective in regards to that of Hitler.

I give this book a well deserved 5/5 stars, and plan on buying a hardcover version if one is available sometime in the future. If you’ve not read this yet, I strongly recommend it!

Until next time,
-Pass Me That Book.

Paperback Arc: The Legend of Zelkova

Title: The Legend of Zelkova
Author: S. A. Valden
Series: Book 1
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Adult Fiction
Page Count:
Publisher:
Type of Book: Paperback, Arc
Rated: 4/5 stars

The Legend of Zelkova is about a young woman named Zelkova, a badass female who loves Carya, and is sent on a mission with a few others to rescue/retrieve the missing prince of her kingdom. The King puts her in charge of the group, of which one of the members, a man named Malus, doesn’t like so he challenges her to the position, as he has never been bested by a fight, and doesn’t believe that women should be in charge. Zelkova wins, and Malus continues being an ass throughout the book, though slowly changes.

Zelkova is powerful, magical, strong, smart, and beautiful. She leads the four to retrieve the missing/kidnapped prince, and along the way the other four gain gifts/magical abilities as well. Malus winds up gaining the fire element, the others get various abilities/elements as well. Soon, the group is a powerful force to be reckoned with, but not without consequences.

This book was a wild ride that I really enjoyed, especially with the light hearted LGBT feels between Zelkova and Carya. I liked that the book was a fun, adventuresome read. There were intense battle sequences, deep meaningful conversations between the characters, and an overall fun feel to the story as I read along.

My one complaint was that the elements who kept giving these gifts were always mysterious and vague about the group needing their powers. Why is it that those types of powerful beings can never inform the individual of what they are getting themselves into? Sure, they get special unique powers to help save innocent people, but a little information wouldn’t be such a bad thing now and again. Not mysterious riddles, or vague sentences that leave the person (Zelkova mainly) more confused than before. Everything does get explained, but that’s just one of my issues with the book.

That, and Malus being an ass in the beginning of the story. One does warm up to him eventually though, at the end of the book, he is nowhere near close to being my favorite character. (That would be Zelkova, of course.)

I did enjoy this book enough to possibly look for book 2, whenever it comes out. It’s a fun book that I’m sure fantasy lovers will love, and while it was a bit of a long read, it was an entertaining one as well.

Overall, I rate this book a 4/5 stars.

Until Next Time,
-Pass Me That Book.

Click here for a sneak peek at book 2!: https://legendofzelkova.com/

{Review will also be posted on my Goodreads and Amazon}

Old Review, No Author (2016 Me Was An Idiot): Freedom’s Child Book Review

I thoroughly enjoyed Freedom’s Child. It was intense and beautifully written, filled with believable characters and a fascinating plot. I found that I enjoyed this a lot more than I had thought that I would, actually, and I will definitely check out more by this author!

Additional Notes: Um…who’s the author? What year was it published? Could you leave me no clues at all 2015 me?! This is what a fresh new blogger looks like y’all lol. Take note not to do this! And not even a book cover! Sigh….