MAJOR LIFE UPDATE!

BIG CHANGES HAPPENING

Hey everyone! I haven't done a life update since the end of April, because not a whole lot has happened that is update-worthy, up until now. With a stable job and going through school, my life has been pretty consistent. Some exciting things that have happened since April are that I got to attend two friends' weddings, turned 22, finished my third semester of grad school, and started a YouTube channel! Those things aren't the real purpose of this post though. I'll talk more about that stuff in my year in review blog post. The big thing that is happening is that I am moving to Northwest Arkansas! 

With next semester being the last real semester in my graduate program and the summer being when I have to do my Practicum internship, I felt like I needed to reduce my hours to part-time work, start getting experience in the type of library that I want to work in, and begin networking for an internship. Being the type of person that I am, I was incredibly nervous about stepping back from a full-time position and moving to a new city without a job lined up, but I ultimately realized that 1) I'll be able to focus on my last leg of school, 2) there are some amazing libraries in NWA that I can volunteer at and hopefully do my internship in, and 3) I'll be close to family again! The decision just made sense. A few months ago, my dream job became available at the Fayetteville Public Library and because I have not finished my degree yet, I was not technically qualified for the job, but I applied anyway. I never heard anything back. By the grace of God, several months after I did that, a position at the Fayetteville Public Library became available that I am qualified for. I heard back from the library within a couple days, interviewed, and was hired for the position!!! I am thrilled to be moving from an academic library setting to a public library setting, which is the type of library I want to work in long-term. 

I have been so stressed over the last two months or so trying to figure out if leaving my job at Ouachita was a smart move, trying to find a new job, and trying to work out the logistics of moving to a new part of the state, all in the midst of finals for school and the holidays. Yesterday was my last day of work at OBU and now I've got to finish packing up my apartment and prepare for the most hectic two weeks of my life. Here is a schedule of what my next two weeks looks like lol:

December 24th: Go to Russellville for Christmas Eve (take a load of stuff from apartment)

December 25th: 1. Christmas at my Mom's house

2. Christmas with my Stepmom's Family

3. Christmas #1 in NWA

December 27th: Big Move-Out Day (moving all my stuff out of my apartment)

December 28th: Christmas #2 in NWA

December 30th: Go back to Arkadelphia to turn in my apartment keys and do walk-through then potentially go spend the night with AA and stay through New Year's?

Sometime between Jan.1-3: Officially move to NWA (not taking a bunch of my stuff because I'm staying with my Nana)

January 4th: Dog-sit for parents' friends

January 6th: Start new job 

So needless to say, it's going to be an incredibly busy holiday season for me and I will be traveling back and forth between Russellville, Arkadelphia, and Fayetteville quite a bit. I am extremely excited for this new stage of my life. I am grateful for the things I learned about academic libraries while I worked at OBU and to have had a whole slew of great coworkers who were always willing to help me with questions about library school and things like that.Now it's time for me to step out of the Bubble and into a setting that will undoubtedly lead me to great opportunities for my future. 

If you live in NWA, come see me at the Fayetteville Public Library in the new year! I'll be working at the front desk so it would be hard to miss me! ~Em 

November Wrap-Up!

November Wrap-Up!

Alright y'all I finally slowed down on my reading. As usual, the number of books I read per month tends to drop in the last two months of the year because of final exams and general end-of-the-year stress. This month I read 10 books. 5 of them were for school and 5 were just for funsies. All but one were full-length novels, so that also factors into why I didn't read as much this month. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the books I read this month. ~Em

This is one of the books I read for my Multicultural Literature class for our Inclusive unit. George is about a young girl who was assigned male at birth. Melissa tries to tell her friends and family that she does not identify as a boy, but they are having a hard time understanding. Melissa wants to play Charlotte in her school's production of Charlotte's Web, but because everyone at school thinks that she is a boy, the teacher will not give her the role. The book is a great story of self-discovery and being comfortable with who you are. It is difficult to find books with positive representation of people who are transgender so I was happy to have the chance to read this one.  Rating: 4/5

Jimmy is Lakota but he gets made fun of because he looks white. When school gets out for the summer, Jimmy and his grandpa go on a road trip to visit different locations that were important in Crazy Horse's life, to help Jimmy learn more about his culture and be proud of who he is. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style of this book. It had a lot of directional exposition that I felt was unnecessary. However, the story is a really good one for learning about culture and accepting yourself. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This is another book I read for MLCYA, but for my Asian/Pacific Islander unit. Darius gets bullied for being overweight and Persian American. When his family finds out that his mom's father has a brain tumor that he isn't going to recover from, they decide to go visit him and the rest of their family in Iran. This is Darius and his younger sister's first time to visit Iran, and while there, Darius makes a friend and learns more about his culture and about being comfortable with both his American identity and his Persian identity. I loved this book! It is a great coming-of-age story and shares beautiful descriptions of Iran that are not typically shown in media. Darius also suffers from depression and anxiety and the main theme of the book is learning that it is okay not to be okay sometimes. Rating: 5/5

Ged has a great amount of power. One day he releases a dark entity that wreaks havoc. Ged has to right his wrong and try to get rid of this dark entity. This story isn't super memorable to me, however, it has one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. The narrator did an amazing job at telling the story in a captivating way. I will definitely be continuing on with the series. Rating: 3/5

Salt to the Sea is the tale of how four different peoples' lives intersect during World War II, when they all end up on the ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff. My favorite thing about Ruta Sepetys' books is how she is able to tell lesser known stories from highly known historical events. I read her book Between Shades of Gray earlier this year and it also tells a story from World War II but about Lithuanian people and their experience during the war. The author is also able to write very compelling characters who are easy to connect to. My one major complaint and the reason I didn't love this book is the ending is pretty unbelievable. I also found the ending of the other book of hers I read to be unbelievable. I think the author wants to make sure the characters have a happy ending, but it is hard to suspend my disbelief in these situations.  Rating: 3/5

This is the second book in the Arkwell Academy series. It follows Dusty, who is a Nightmare, as she goes through school and has to deal with rising tensions among the various magickind. This was a good book, but not great. I enjoyed being back with these characters and seeing what they got up to next. I really like the dynamics between the main character and her love interest, Eli. These books are very tropey but overall still enjoyable. Rating: 3/5

Moss goes to a school where there are not many funds awarded because test rates have been low. He and the other kids at this school are constantly racially profiled. After a student was assaulted by the security officer at their school, Moss and his friends band together to try to make a change. More and more things keep going wrong as the police force continues to act out aggressively toward the students and even the community as a whole. Moss also deals with severe anxiety and has to try to cope with his panic attacks while trying to make a stand and stop the violence in his city. Y'all this book was HARD to read. The things that these kids went through were awful. I cannot say that this book was enjoyable to read at all, but it was powerful and so poignant for the state our country is in right now. Rating: 4/5

This book is about a young boy who gets up early and goes fishing with his father to provide food for their family. His father is an immigrant from Vietnam and the book shares the hardships of immigration and trying to make it in America. The illustrations are beautiful and it has an overall hopeful message. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

 Y'all I loved this book! It is about Victor and Eli who learn that near-death experiences can cause a person to come back to life as an EO or ExtraOrdinary. This gives that person special abilities. After the two of a major falling out and Victor ends up in prison for 10 years, he is determined to get revenge and kill Eli. While Eli has had a change of heart about EOs and wants to kill Victor as well. I loved the writing style of this book and the jumps between when Victor and Eli were in college learning about EOs and the present where Victor and Eli are determined to kill each other. The characters are VERY morally grey and that is one of my favorite type of characters to read about. I will definitely be reading the sequel soon. Rating: 5/5

Amal dreams of being a teacher, but she is the eldest daughter in her family and when her mother gets postpartum depression after her new baby is born, Amal has to stay home and care for her siblings. One day while at the market, Amal "disrespects" the corrupt landlord's son after he hits her with his car and she is forced into indentured servitude to pay back her debt. Amal will stop at nothing to return to her family though and pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. This was a very interesting story about how the wealthy can have a great deal of power over people. Unfortunately, indentured servitude still occurs to this day and this look at is was unique. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

October Wrap-Up!

October Wrap-Up!

I've done it again y'all. I read 19 this month! Pretty much the only reason is because of school, 8 of these were for my Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults class. I also read 5 volumes of My Hero Academia, a graphic novel, and a picture book for one of my other classes that I didn't include a picture of here. These shorter reads really push my numbers up! I know I'll be reading even more for my class in November, so hopefully I'll have a double-digit reading month again then. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on all the books I read in the month of October. ~Em

Esperanza Rising is a beautiful historical fiction book about a young girl named Esperanza who is forced to flee Mexico with her mother. When Esperanza reaches the US, she is forced to confront her privilege, as she no longer leaves on a ranch with servants. She and her mother must work to make a living and Esperanza has a hard time accepting this. I loved the discussion of privilege in this book and being shown how difficult immigration is. I had seen this book many times before but didn't pick up until I was required to for class, and I'm glad I finally read it. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This was a re-read for me, but this time I read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook. This was another one of the books I had to read for my MLCYA class and I just love it. It is such a powerful story about the expectations of teenage girls, what it's like to live in a religious family when you don't share the same beliefs, and becoming comfortable with who you are. There are many tough discussions in this book, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Rating: 5/5

Rating: 5/5

This is a really awesome graphic novel. It is technically the second book in a series, but for my MLCYA class we had to read this volume. It is about a group of friends who own a body shop and one day their cat goes missing. The three friends go on a journey to find their beloved cat, but they run into several Aztec gods along the way. The art is incredible and there is a great mix of English and Spanish words throughout the book. I will definitely pick up the other graphic novels in the series. Rating: 5/5 

Under the Mesquite tells the story of Lupita, who is one of 8 children in her family. She and her family live on a border town, so they often go back and forth between Mexico and Texas. When Lupita's mother is diagnosed with cancer, Lupita has to take responsibility as the oldest child and take care of her siblings while trying to finish high school and express herself through writing and theater. This is an emotional story and it is well-written, which makes it even more impactful. Lupita struggles a lot with her identity as someone who easily goes back and forth between Mexico and the US, and she struggles with trying to be someone independent of her family. This is one of the lesser known books I read for MLCYA, but I think it should be on more people's radars. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This is a book I have been meaning to get to for a while and just hadn't picked up, until I heard one of my coworkers talk about it and decided to bite the bullet. Boy, am I glad that I did! It's about a girl named Stevie who is extremely passionate about true crime and gets to go to a private school where a murder happened in the 1930s. Stevie goes to the school to try to solve the murder in present day, and when one of her fellow students gets murdered, she ends up trying to solve that one too. I really liked this book. Stevie is an interesting character and I was unable to predict most of the twists and turns in the plot. There is a diverse cast of characters as well, including a non-binary character, multiple people of color, and Stevie has severe anxiety that she takes medication for. I am excited to continue on with the series! Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

This is the third book in the Diviners quartet. I continued along with the Diviners readalong that I have been participating in for the last couple of months, though I accidentally read this one later than I was supposed to. That did stop me from enjoying the heck out of this book! I won't say much, because I don't want to spoil anything, but the stakes are SO HIGH in this book and there are a LOT more ghosts in this one (which I love.) This is the book where we get more information on Memphis's back story and more information about Jericho as well. I loved the development of all the characters and some pretty wild things happen at the end. I can't wait for the fourth and final book to release in February! Rating: 5/5

Unfortunately, this is my least favorite book I read this month. What was pitched as a paranormal thriller actually ended up being a book that used mental health as a plot device. It's about a girl named Lauren who becomes obsessed with finding a girl in a "Missing" poster. As she finds clues and digs deeper more and more missing girls start appearing to Lauren as what the reader thinks are ghosts. However, *spoiler alert* in the last 50-75 pages, it is revealed that Lauren is experiencing what could potentially be schizophrenia. (You can't diagnose schizophrenia from one episode.) Using mental health as a plot twist is harmful and it made me feel very uncomfortable. The author did leave a note in the back of the book with contacts for the National Mental Illness Alliance and other resources, which I appreciated. Rating: 2/5

Jenna wants to dance at the next powwow, but she must find jingles for her dress in order to do so. This was the first book I read for our Native American unit in MLCYA. It does a great job at telling a story of modern Native Americans. A stereotypical occurrence is to only include Native Americans as a part of history and not include them in the present day, so it was nice to see this picture book with Native Americans living in a modern community and not being stereotyped. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This book was our faculty/staff book club pick for the month. As the subtitle says, it is about the six innovations that changed how the world functions. It talks about such things as glass, sounds, and cold, which make more sense if you read the book and see the points the author makes. I enjoyed our discussion of the book and I listened to the audiobook of this one. I think the author had some really interesting things to say. No Rating

Mooncakes is a graphic novel about a young witch named Nova who lives in a bookstore/coffee shop with her two grandmas. One day, she runs into her friend, Tam, who she hasn't seen in quite some time, while Tam is trying to fight a demon. Tam is a non-binary werewolf. The two rekindle their friendship and work to defeat the evil that has come to their town. This book is SOOOOO good! The diversity in it is wonderful. As I mentioned, Tam is non-binary, and other diversity includes Nova being hard-of-hearing, fat rep, and I don't know if it says for sure or not, but I think there are people of color represented as well. The story handles a lot of hard topics, such as accepting yourself and death of a loved one. The art work is stunning and it is overall a cute and heartwarming story. Please read it if you like graphic novels and cuteness! Rating: 5/5

In this book, Ivy's family's home is destroyed in a tornado. She and the other five members of her family are all forced to move into a one bedroom hotel room while they try to sort things out. In the midst of the storm and chaos, Ivy lost her notebook, which contained drawings that she wants to keep private. But then, the pictures from the notebook start showing up in Ivy's locker with notes attached. Ivy doesn't know who is doing this but she wants to find out. This is an incredible coming-of-age story. Ivy wants to keep her drawings secret because in them she is holding hands with another girl. She isn't sure how to tell her friend and family that she likes girls. I absolutely loved this book. Ivy goes so through so much over the course of this book and by the end I was sobbing. It is a powerful read that I think many young people will get a lot out of. Rating: 5/5

Code Talker is the fictionalized retelling of the Navajo Marines who became code talkers in World War II. This is another difficult book to read, because of the way the Navajo people were treated by their teachers at boarding school. The white teachers tried to erase the Navajo culture from those children. Even once the Navajo Marines became code talkers, which was a crucial part of the war, they were not recognized or promoted for an extremely long time after the war. The audiobook for this is really good, as there are many Navajo words used in the book and hearing the narrator pronounce them was helpful. I love reading books about a different side of history than is usually told. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This was one of the books I read for our Inclusive unit for MLCYA. The book is about Adam, who has early onset schizophrenia and is participating in a study for a new medicine that will hopefully help him manage his hallucinations. The story is told through Adam writing in a journal to his therapist, instead of speaking to the therapist. Adam's experiences were hard to read at times which made the book impactful. Though some of the topics were really deep, the book was simultaneously very funny and had some great discussions on mental health. Rating: 4/5

September Wrap-Up!

September Wrap-Up!

Please disregard everything I said last month about it being the last month where I was able to read a lot because I read 17 books this month!!! I don't know who I am, honestly. I have never read that many books in a month, ever! It does help that one of them was a children's book, one was a short story, and two were manga, but I read 13 full-length novels. I listened to a bunch of these on audio, but you all know we count audiobooks as real books in this household because it's still reading and if you want to fight me on that, go ahead. As a reminder, I don't give ratings to the books I read for my classes unless I already wanted to read them or they really move me to rate them. I also don't write synopses for the manga I read if they are continuations of a series, I just share the rating so I can avoid spoilers. But anywho, here are my thoughts on everything I read! ~Em

 Nevermoor is the story of a girl named Morrigan Crow who is cursed to die when she turns 12. However, the curse comes to fruition one year early, but she is rescued by a bizarre man named Jupiter North. She is taken to Nevermoor and must compete in trials to be able to attend a school for people with magical abilities. This is such a fun book. It is a middle grade book, but it deals with some dark topics and had twists and turns that I wasn't expecting at all! I love the characters and the magic system. I'm excited to continue the series. Rating: 5/5

 Y'all this is a powerful book. This is a middle grade book I read for my Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults class. It is about a young boy named Jerome who is shot and killed by a white police officer after the officer mistakes a toy gun for a real one. Jerome remains in his town as a ghost and can't seem to move on because there are things he is supposed to communicate to other people. Jerome also meets the ghosts of other black boys who were wrongly murdered, including Emmett Till. The discussions of privilege, racism, racial profiling, and stereotyping were handled extremely well and were very moving. I was touched by this book and hope that kids for a long time read this relevant and moving book. Rating: 5/5

Natasha and her family are about to be deported back to Jamaica. She is using her last day in the states to talk with deportation lawyers and trying to find a way for her to stay. Along the way, she meets Daniel. He is supposed to be on his way to an important college interview, but fate keeps bringing Natasha and Daniel together. I read this for my MLCYA class and I was pleasantly surprised by it. Though it is an insta-love story, Natasha and Daniel do have conflict and the ending is very realistic. I love the discussion of each character's cultures, as Natasha is Jamaican and Daniel is Korean-American. It was a fun, cute story in light of the difficult topic deportation. Rating: 4/5

This is a children's book about Josephine Baker, who overcame her origins and became a famous performer. It was a beautifully illustrated book and the story was very interesting! No Rating: Read for Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults

 This is the second book in the Diviners series, which I read for the Diviners Read-a-long. My predictions for this book were not as I expected at all. I thought this book was going to be more about Memphis, but it was really more about Henry and Sam, plus a sort of new character, Ling Chan. I didn't expect some of the twists and turns in this book and I was pleasantly surprised by what happened. I did think this one was a little too long and I was really frustrated with Evie for most of this book, because she let fame get to her head and started neglecting the people close to her. One of my favorite things about this series though is how diverse it is. Even though this book is set in the 1920s, there are main characters who are people of color, have disabilities, and different sexualities. I'm excited to read the third book in October! Rating: 4/5

Rating: 5/5

 I reread Long Way Down for my Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults class. It was great to revisit this story and analyze it on a deeper level. My rating stayed the same for this book as it was at the beginning of this year. Rating: 4/5

 I read the entire Raven Cycle series this month for the Raven Cycle Read-a-long. I'm only going to give a synopsis for the first book, to avoid spoilers, and just put the ratings for the other three books. Blue Sargent is from a family of psychics but her only ability is to act as an amplifier to the psychics powers. She befriends four boys in a series of unlikely circumstances and ends up going on adventures to find a dead Welsh king named Glendower. Richard "Dick" Gansey III has one goal in life and that is to find Glendower. He has been all over the world to locate this king via ley lines. He will do anything to find this king because it is told that if you wake the king, he will grant you a favor. I really really liked this series. I loved the friendships, the magic, the stakes, and the story as a whole. At first I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, because it comes off as quite pretentious, however as I continued reading, it fits the characters really well and it made for really funny moments throughout. This is a series I will definitely reread in the future. Rating: 4/5

 Rating: 4/5

 Rating: 5/5

 Rating: 4/5

This is a short story for the Teardrop duology. It is a prequel story about Ander before he is sent to kill Eureka. I found this story very dumb and completely unnecessary. I was only like 30 pages long and didn't really serve any purpose in my opinion. I feel like the author could have just included it at the beginning of the first book if she felt like it was important.  Rating: 2/5

 We read Educated for our faculty/staff book club this month and man this was a difficult book to read. I listened to the audiobook and had to just turn it off a couple times and process the information. This is Tara Westover's memoir about growing up in a survivalist, Mormon family and not receiving traditional education until she went to college. Tara faced a ton of hardships growing up in this living situation. I can't say this was an enjoyable read at all. It was extremely difficult to read. I can recognize the merit of Tara getting out of her situation and getting her doctorate. I didn't give this a rating because of these reasons. Not Rated

 Rating: 3/5

 This is the story of Eden, who gets raped by her brother's best friend her freshman year of high school. He tells her that if she tells anyone what happened he will kill her, so she feels that she has to keep this tragic event to herself. Over the course of her four years of high school, Eden drastically changes her personality and appearance to try to repress what happened to her. She begins having sex with many random guys to try to block out the past. I had some issues with this book. There was some fatphobia about what of the side characters. Eden lies to at least 15 different guys about her age, which brings up a huge problem of having sex with a minor. There was also very little discussion of mental health. Eden obviously experienced a very traumatic event and she become angry and mean to everyone around her and she could have used therapy or the author could have talked about the mental health repercussions of what happened.  Rating: 3/5

Bri is an aspiring rapper. Her father was a famous underground rapper before he was murdered and people keep comparing Bri to him. When Bri releases her first single, it strikes up controversy among white people in the community, gangs, and school representatives. Bri just wants to make a name for herself but she has to learn how to navigate the industry and the hate that she gets for her music. This is a powerful book. The discussions on racism, prejudice, gang rivalries, poverty, and drugs were handled well. I really appreciated that as a 16-year-old, Bri makes decisions that are not the best all the time, and she has to face the consequences from those decisions. This is also a really diverse book with some great representation. Rating: 4/5

This book is about Billie and her five friends, a.k.a. the Hexagon. They live in a small town called Otters Holt, where Billie's father is a pastor. At a church lock-in, Billie and her friends accidentally set the youth room on fire and the community gets upset with the pastor for allowing this to happen. Meanwhile, the Hexagon is also on a mission to help save the town's Harvest Festival. This book was so SO good! I loved the friendship dynamics, the discussion of religion in a small town, the discussion of discovering yourself, and the small town setting. I connected with this story in a lot of ways and it really touched my heart. Rating: 5/5

August Reading Wrap-Up!

August Reading Wrap-Up!

Hey friends! I read 12 books in August! I don't think I'll have another month this year where I'm able to read so much, so I'm glad I had several 5-star reads this month. I read three manga, five audiobooks, three physical books, and one ebook, so I had a good mix of formats this month. This month I read one of my absolute favorite books of the year, like possibly in the top 3? Also, I completed my Goodreads goal of 75 books during August, which was super exciting since there are still four months of reading left to do. I think I can definitely meet my "secret" goal of 100 books! 

~Em

 Rating: 4/5

Noteworthy is about a girl named Jordan who goes to a private fine arts high school. Because of her deep voice, she hasn't been getting cast in any of the musicals, so she decides to disguise herself as a boy and audition for one of the popular, all-male a cappella groups on campus. One of my favorite niche genres of books is ones that feature music or music groups. I really did like the a cappella aspects of this book! There was also a great friend group dynamic. However, one big problem I had with this book is that Jordan never faces any consequences when people find out that she has been lying about who she is. I loved the discussion of identity and the LGBTQ+ representation. Rating: 4/5

 Rating: 5/5

This book follows Evie, a teen in 1920s New York, who has the ability to see a person's history by touching an object that belongs to them. She and her uncle get involved with solving some murders that appear to be linked to occult practices. This book is spooky and the magic is unique and interesting throughout the story! There are ghost elements in the storyline that I loved. All of the characters were well-developed and intriguing. I can't wait to read the sequel! Rating: 5/5

Daughter of the Siren Queen is the sequel and final book in the Daughter of the Pirate King duology. It follows shortly after the events of the first book. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I had heard pretty negative reviews, but I think the problem I had with the first book, which was the way Alosa was claimed to be portrayed as a no-nonsense, independent, fierce pirate captain, but kept letting her guard down around the guy she liked, even though he was her captor, was solved. The plot was pretty convenient in this installment, however it did not hinder my enjoyment of the story. I really liked Alosa and Riden together and I think this was a solid end to the duology. Rating: 4/5

This is honestly one of the weirdest books I have ever read in my life. It's about a girl named Weetzie Bat, who gets three wishes from a genie. Because of the way she words the wishes, they come true, but in a strange way. This is an older book, I think it came out in 2004, and it does not stand the test of time. There are some inconsiderate and inappropriate things done/said throughout. I don't even really know what to say about it other than it was super weird and I would not recommend it. Rating: 2/5

King of Scars is the first book in the third series in the Grishaverse. It follows Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina after the events of Crooked Kingdom. I really enjoyed this book, however I felt that it was mainly a fan service book. I feel like nothing of significance happened in the first 250 pages of the over 500 page book.That doesn't mean to say that I didn't enjoy it, because I truly did like just learning more info about the characters. I'm interested to see what will happen next in the series, especially with how this one ended. Rating: 4/5

Y'all this is one of my absolute FAVORITE books of the entire year. It's about Elizabeth, who is training to become a warden, which is basically a librarian in a library that houses grimoires that can turn into monsters. After she gets in trouble for not following protocol when a grimoire gets loose, she is forced to work with Nathaniel, a sorcerer, to protect other libraries. However wardens and sorcerers do not get along. This book is soooo good. I love the magic and the library setting. I love the characters, especially Silas. If you like the anime Black Butler, you will probably love Silas, because he is a lot like Sebastian. I listened to this on audiobook and will be purchasing a physical copy ASAP! Rating: 5/5!

This is a new adult romance about a girl named Mia who goes to Vegas with her two best friends after college graduation. At a bar she meets a guy named Ansel and his two friends. In Vegas tradition, they all get drunk and end up getting married as a joke. All of the friends get annulments in the morning, except Ansel and Mia, and he convinces her to go to France with him for the summer. This book is really hard to believe, considering the main character goes to another country with a guy she has known for two days. If you look past that, it's a cute and steamy romance story. There are problems that result from a lack of communication, which was frustrating. Overall it was just an average read for me. Rating: 3/5

 Rating: 3/5

Henry keeps getting abducted by aliens. They are giving him the opportunity to prevent the world from ending, but Henry isn't sure he wants to save it. He has experienced some pretty traumatic events in the last couple years and doesn't know that there is anything worth saving. This book requires a lot of trigger warnings, including: suicide, suicidal thoughts, attempted rape, self harm, abandonment, bullying, and more. If you think about reading this book, please look at better reviews with full trigger warnings. I liked the concept of this book, but I didn't love how it was done. One thing I dislike in books is when everything that could possibly go wrong in a character's life, does. And that happens in this book. The reader should feel hopeful at the end and I just felt bummed out and anxious throughout the entirety of the book and even after the hopeful ending. Rating: 3/5

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens follows Nima, who confesses her feelings to one of her friends, but it is not reciprocated. While trying to sort out her feelings, Nima stumbles across a drag show and becomes enamored by a drag king and befriends a drag queen. I loved the drag culture and community in this book! However, this is another example of a book where everything bad that could happen to a character, does. Thankfully, this one has some more uplifting moments mixed in and Nima actually catches a break from the bad stuff sometimes. Sadly, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped to. Rating: 3/5