Set during the Victorian times in England, when circuses showcased curiosities for the paying public. There are 3 main characters in alternating first-person points of view.
The chapters are short, which I liked since I was reading it at work, I could sneak a chapter quickly. 😄

I enjoyed the writing and the story. They were all flawed characters in a business that is terribly flawed in of it's self and you just knew it was all going to crumple.

I adore a book with a circus, especially if the author throws in some fantasy.
It all just seems so whimsical and fantastic.

Started this one a few days ago.

A perfect beach read for a beach vacation, which is where I read it. This was a sweet romance. I enjoyed all the characters and was rooting for our 2 leads to get together.

On vacation in a new place and found some used books stores.
My daughter has been looking for The Magic Thief so she is excited. I was happy to nab The Hidden Palace. Loved the first one.

Well, that was some raunchy craziness.
My friend read this book and told me to read it too so she could talk about it.
Crazy, mind trip. Will be fun to talk to her about when we get together tomorrow though. 😅

I started off reading the Wings of Fire series to my daughter at bedtime, but then she took off and decided to read them on her own. 😁
I told her I would read them, too. She has already finished all 15 books, and I am playing catch up.
This is #12 and the 3rd arc of the series. They are really great books and I am glad she enjoyed them so much. 😊

This is a great beach read.
Harriet and her found family (2 college friends and their SOs) take their annual trip to a cottage in Maine for a week of reconnecting and learning how to move on in life. I love the friendships in this and how they can be there for each other as their friendship changes and grows.

A cute regency YA, with an Austen loving heroine.
I enjoyed this read-along with #Pembertonlittens and #JaneAdjacent hosted by @StayCurious .

I often think I don't have time to read a book, but doing a chapter or 2 a day really does let you sneak in a whole book in no time.

I picked this up at a garage sale years ago because I liked Jon Stewart back in his Daily Show days (which he is back).
It is a collection of 19 satirical essays about the Kennedys, Hitler, Hanson, The Last Supper, Bill Gates and more. I read a couple during breaks at work. It was good enough to entertain me for my breaks, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get this book.

Ursula has one of the best Disney songs 🎵

Love her, so I was excited to read this villain origin story!

I was totally rooting for her, though you know it all goes downhill.

This was my first cozy murder mystery. Branching out. 🎉
This was a love letter to Paris, Julia Child, and French cuisine, with murder thrown in. It was a fun, light read.

My brother got me one of those bookshelf diorama kits. It was a fun build and I love that it has lights. So cute. 😺

Starting this 📕 today.
3 of my coworkers are reading the series and very enthusiastically told me to join them.

So join them I shall. 🎉

This has been on my shelf forever, and I was excited to dive in.
Unfortunately, I wanted to like it more than I did.
It is your standard ordinary girl who turns out to be special and thrown into the elite world with a rebellion coming.

The main heroine never grew on me. It was more of a narration of what happened that never actually pulled me into the story.

I read the plot synopsises for the rest of the series, and that was enough for me.

Finished this duology.
I really like magician, circus type books that make them into mysterious spectacles.
I liked the first book better though. The second book had some fun moments, but didn't flow as well. It seemed to jump around, not quite connecting all the events.

Modern day Gothic fairy tale.
The main character, a scholar of myths, marries a mysterious woman who tells him not to ask about her past, pludging them straight into their own Gothic tale.
Is this really magic, or is this madness?

The very beginning felt disjointed to me, but once the dual perspectives started, I really got into the tale.

The bright yellow cover matches this fluffy modern romance. 28 year old Georgie is lost after she loses her job. What is a girl to do? Why, go home of course, help her pregnant BFF and try to recapture who she is with the help of an old high-school journal and a hunky local (who needs some love).

I just wanted the love interest to get the love he needed. I didn't really click with the story, it was just eh.

I have been in a huge book slump, but finally pulled myself out. 🎉

Gemina is the 2nd book in this trilogy. I enjoyed the new characters & it was just as action packed as the first. I like the visuals they add in to emphasize different parts.

I think my favorite detail was the computer virus in form of the pop song Lollipop playing and popping up all the time. 🎵

On to the finale!

#roll100
@PuddleJumper

February's rolls for me. I am excited to read The Little Prince with my daughter. We started last night. 😁

January goals started off with a bang 🧨 and then kind of limped out. 🤦‍♀️
I started off walking in the AM 4 days a week, then life....but I went out this morning.
I did read the 2 books I said I would though. 🎉

February goals are the same with the extention of runs and the endless phone scrolling banishment.

#BFC2022
@wanderinglynn

Fantastic!
I read through it in 3 days. I really enjoyed the characters and plot. The different ways they presented the story help add to it for sure. I went right out and got the next two volumes since the library didn't have them.

Second read for #roll100
@PuddleJumper

This is my 2nd book by Larson and I will completely read anything by him. His ability to write a compelling narrative laced with well researched history is magnificent.

I would have loved to seen the Chicago World Fair. It sounded like such a visual feast. I quite enjoyed reading about how it came about. The other side of the story, was chilling to know a man like Holmes stalked the world.

🎊Happy New Year 🎊
Let's go #BFC2022

Easy goals to ease into January...
📖 Book goal is to read 2 books.
🚶‍♀️Fitness goal is to go on morning walks at least 6 days a week.

Thanks for keeping us going @wanderinglynn

#roll100

I am excited to start off the New Year with these two books which I have had for years! 🎉🎉

Thank you @PuddleJumper for the rolls!

I did find this book interesting.
For me, it was just enough science, without being scientific, so it was a light read. I pretty much cringed through most of the book with a slightly digusted face on because decomposing bodies, and bodies parts are gross to me though.

Walked around the bookcases and wrote down all the titles I have hanging around, plus started on a few of the ebooks I have amassed.

Looking forward to the first roll. 🎲🎲
#ROLL100
@PuddleJumper

Picked this graphic novel based on the cover and quite enjoyed it. It is fun and sarcastic- just my thing. Plus demon cat! I liked the art work too.

It pretty much The Prince and The Pauper switcheroo, in a demon world. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only book and it didn't get continued. 😕

Lunch break reading. 😋
It has been a year now since I switched to a job that I can sneak some reading in on and it is awesome.

My husband adores the Adventure Zone podcast and when we saw this in the library he wanted me to try it out. It is good....I can see where the podcast would be better because of all the banter that they cannot really fully put in.

This one has been on my TBR.
The beginning was scattered with alternating POV that took a good many chapters to catch on to.
However, the story pulled itself together & I enjoyed the back half.
Some of the magic seemed a little too all powerful for one character.
I enjoyed the magic concept & the world building and want to find out what happens so on to book 2!

#LMPBC #groupO
This one is on the way.
@Littlewolf1 @Alfrazier21 @HufflepuffGirl90

I quite enjoyed this story. I really like the world and characters she created. I look forward to reading her other book, Sky in the Deep, to visit the world again.

I will mail this book out today!
#LMPBC #groupO
@Littlewolf1 @Alfrazier21 @HufflepuffGirl90

This was a fun retelling of Aladdin. There are strong heroines, a sweet love story, and magic.
The book is from the jinni's point of view and I quite enjoyed how the author told the jinni's thoughts.

The plot moved along quickly and it did seem a bit rushed at points. It is a stand alone so while it could have been fleshed out more, I have been in the mood for one offs and not being tied to a series.

So I am lucky enough that my library had Fairy Tail to borrow, but I am on the last one they had. Volume 21. It is a fun series, just crazy, magic loving wizards who cause a ruckus and like to fight.

I will have to find someway to get my hands on more because this one ends in the middle of the story arc!

Post-apocalyptic, where society now lives in a stratified underground silo with only cameras sending in a picture of the ruined outside world on the top level. Society is tightly controlled, but as new facts are learned by the sheriff tension mounts.

This lightly scifi book is slower paced but I think that helps you feel the tension & the claustrophobia the silo dwellers must feel.

It gets ⭐⭐⭐, I enjoyed it but I was not totally entralled.

Super excited #groupO. Here are a few books I have. I tried to stick to all stand alones.

#LMPBC #round12.
@Alfrazier21 @HufflepuffGirl90 @Littlewolf1

This is my kind of book.
New York City at the turn of the century, mythological beings finding their way in a world that doesn't recognize them, and back stories converging together. It is one of those slower pace books that create a good atmosphere by letting the settings and the characters build the whole around them a step or a thought at a time.

I painted another brick like a book cover. I am pretty amused by it. I am putting them around a tree in a sitting area we made out front.

#selfcarebingo #SelfCareIsNotSelfish
@ElizaMarie

Feels like I tried more this month in general on better habits.
Journal- daily writing a sentence thing
Binge a show- Accidently in Love (Asian Dramas!)
Flowers- planted a bunch of lillies
Play a game- Checkers & anything else my daughter makes up
Quiet time/read outside- got a day off and sat in the hammock and read
Send a care packages- sent some Mangas to my sis-in-law
Sing-Always am. LOL

I have been really enjoying my current book. I like the mix of the historical setting (NYC at the turn of the century) with mythological beings.

Thank you @wanderinglynn for bringing back #BFC21. I am looking forward to kicking off 2021 and on a positive note.

My goals:
Book: Less time "browsing" the internet. Read instead of scrolling.
FIitness: Walk or run 21 days out of 31.

Already had a walk this morning. ?‍♀️

? Happy '21 ?

At first I was not really drawn into the story because the main character was a young brat and I could not connect, but that is kind of the point of the story.

I did get into the last one hundred pages and I really liked how it ended. It was a fun Christmas read after all.

Really quick, cute and fun graphic novel. It is just all things Fall and pumpkin patch. If you want a quick fix and happy read, this is it for sure.

#SelfCareIsNotSelfish #selfcarebingo
@ElizaMarie
A quick recap of my self care lately.
I have been watching my newest K-drama obsession, The King, with popcorn the last few nights.
Bought myself Empire of Storms since the library did not have it.
Wrote a letter to a friend who needs some good mail.
And have been hanging outside when I get the chance. The picture is from our town's Visitor's Center.

#SelfCareIsNotSelfish #selfcarebingo
@ElizaMarie
The morning weather was a fraction of a bit cooler in the shade, so sat out and read a bit while my pumpkin chocolate chip bread was baking. 🎃

I usually wait until October before going all in on pumpkin, but it being 2020 and all, I needed it earlier.

#SelfCareIsNotSelfish #selfcarebingo
@ElizaMarie

Took a moment to myself last night. Put on my music and painted my nails. 💅 I usually don't go for red, but thought it would be nice this time.

Alright book 3, way to grab and pull me in!! 🤩

Book 1 was okay, nothing to write home about.
Book 2, it was getting better and that ending left me wanting more.
Then book 3 comes along and kicks up the action. I have book 4 and 5 on hold at the library. Can't wait now! I told my husband, it is all hitting the fan now.

Better than the first book. I was kind of meh, after Throne of Glass but willing to give the series a try. Much more action in this book really helped it grow on me, plus more magic! Glad I didn't give up on it because I was actually excited to read the third book.

I like the characters and the budding world that Maas is building. The hints at magic and what is to come is enticing. However, overall it is not really that strong of a book, it felt kind of flat. I am going to try the next book and see if it gets better.

Also, I spent a lot of time staring at the front cover trying to figure out what kind of pants she is wearing that shows that white cloth like that. What is going on? 🤨

Super cute manga. It is a hate to love romance with a very aggressive and ambitious heroine who learns to accept herself and others. I like the art style and the characters are all so fun.

I watched the anime on Netflix during the beginning of our stay at home orders, and it was so much fun I had to get the manga to complete the story.

I love CLAMP. Their art style is just so whimsical and gorgeous. This is a cute little (only 4 volumes) love story that is just pure sweetness.

This was a fun read. Celeste gets a job as an archivist at a medical museum that is haunted. Celeste is trying to deal with her own mental health issues as she tries to unravel what is going on at her new job. I really enjoyed the art and great fashions the artist used.