The Fall Bucket List Book Tag

I have been lacking in the creativity department lately when it comes to post ideas. However, I was really excited when I saw this tag done by Jessica @ The Awkward Book Blogger. I love the fall and winter time so this was just the perfect tag to come across.

The Rules

  1. Link back to the original creator (Tiffany @ Read by Tiffany) in your post.
  2. Feel free to use any of my graphics in your post, or create your own!
  3. Tag 7 other people at the end of your post.

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This book just ticks all of the boxes for me. It’s super fun with a crazy interesting setting, like a modern day Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is the perfect book to sit and binge in one setting because you don’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to continue with the series.

 

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Everyone has been buzzing about this book since it was first announced. It was finally released last month and it seems that the reviews have been really good so far. I definitely want to dive into this beauty before the end of the year. I mean, can we all just gush over that cover for a minute?!

 

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Now technically the majority of this crew weren’t all that friendly before they were thrown together. However, nobody can deny that they didn’t have some seriously fun chemistry from the very first second they came into contact with each other. In the words of Love Island UK, they have “really good banter”.

 

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I will forever be a sucker for a good romance. I like to act like I have a very cold heart but if you really know me, you’ll know that I’m actually a hopeless romantic much to my detriment. But with that being said, this book will make you feel all of the feels.

 

 

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Did you know that the Queen of Hearts can bake a mean ass cake? Well if you’ve read Marissa Meyer’s take on her origin story, then you will know that Catherine’s only goal in life is to have her own bakery. When you read this book, you will constantly find yourself salivating over the amazing descriptions of food. I get hungry just thinking about it.

 

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Honestly, this book was such a joy to read. I had zero expectations going into it, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that it might be my favorite read of 2019 (so far at least). It still makes me smile whenever I think about it. Just read it, people!

 

 


TAG, YOU’RE IT….


What are some of your favorite fall activities? What books would you choose instead? Have you read any of the books on my list?

Anticipated Releases Tag

I saw this really fun tag done by Lauren @ Fangirl Fury and just knew that I had to participate.. Because hey, who doesn’t love talking about new books?! Only a crazy person, that’s who. #GimmeAllDemBooks

Original tag created by Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx.


Most Anticipated Release(s) of the Year

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Supernova (Renegades, #3) by Marissa Meyer

I’ve been enjoying this series so much. I think Meyer has done a great job of showing how life is more shades of grey, rather than black and white. I appreciate that her writing has matured as well, compared to The Lunar Chronicles. I cannot wait to see what the end of Nova’s story will bring, especially after that shocking ending of the previous book. I NEED TO KNOW.

A Book You’re Not Anticipating

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Sea Witch Rising (Sea Witch, #2) by Sarah Henning

I never read the first book in this series and don’t plan to. Am I the only person who doesn’t really care about all of this villain origin stories trend going on? I kind of feel like I might be.

Most Underhyped Anticipated Release

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Suggested Reading by David Connis

I can never say no to a book about books and this one just sounds so amazing. I am a firm believer in no censorship when it comes to books, especially in high school. I can’t wait to see how Connis tackles this controversial topic!

A Book You’ve Been Waiting on Forever

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The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

Ever since finishing Salt to the Sea, I have been dying for another Sepetys novel. And I feel like it has been forever since this book was first announced and I cannot wait any longer for it. I love that Sepetys always chooses to cover historical events that aren’t usually covered in school or in novels.

A Book You’re Anticipating That’s Outside of Your Comfort Zone

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The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif

I’m typically not a big reader of thrillers, but something about the synopsis of this novel sounds too good to pass up. I expect a lot of nonstop action mixed with some twists and turns. Also, I’ve always had small desire to work in intelligence. Those guys are badass.

Your Top Three Can’t Wait Books of the Year

  • Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns, #4) by Kendare Blake
  • The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising, #1) by Kiersten White
  • The Beautiful (The Beautiful, #1) by Renee Ahdieh

All three of these books have been on my radar ever since they were first announced, especially Five Dark Fates. This fall is definitely killing it in the new releases department.

Top Five Most Anticipated Backlist Books on Your TBR

  • The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
  • The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
  • When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry
  • Defy the Fates (Constellation, #3) by Claudia Gray
  • The Last Magician (The Last Magician, #1) by Lisa Maxwell

What are some of your most anticipated releases? Do you usually keep up to date with new releases? What are some backlisted books on your TBR for the rest of the year? Are you excited about any of the books on my list?

2019 Release Covers That I Love

I will always admit that I’m a sucker for a gorgeous book cove. I have definitely bought many a book based mostly on its cover… and I am not ashamed. I love pretty covers and I think it’s been pretty rare where I ended up not enjoying that book, too. So you can probably guess that all of the amazing covers being unveiled lately for 2019 releases has got me really excited. I can’t wait to add these beauties to my bookshelves!


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Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1) by Elizabeth Lim

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

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Finale (Caraval, #3) by Stephanie Garber

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…all games must come to an end.

It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finaly, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win…and those who will lose everything. . .

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Lovely War by Julie Berry

It’s 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She’s a shy and talented pianist; he’s a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it’s immediate and deep—and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.

Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who’s played Carnegie Hall, he’s a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that’s before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who’s already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.

Thirty years after these four lovers’ fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.

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The Beautiful (The Beautiful, #1) by Renee Ahdieh

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirĂ©es and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as Le Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sèbastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of Le Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sèbastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

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The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow, #1) by Margaret Owen

A future chieftain

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

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The Devouring Gray (The Devouring Gray, #1) by Christine Lynn Herman

Branches and stones, daggers and bones,
They locked the Beast away.

After the death of her sister, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn’t: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods.

Justin Hawthorne’s bloodline has protected Four Paths for generations from the Gray—a lifeless dimension that imprisons a brutal monster. After Justin fails to inherit his family’s powers, his mother is determined to keep this humiliation a secret. But Justin can’t let go of the future he was promised and the town he swore to protect.

Ever since Harper Carlisle lost her hand to an accident that left her stranded in the Gray for days, she has vowed revenge on the person who abandoned her: Justin Hawthorne. There are ripples of dissent in Four Paths, and Harper seizes an opportunity to take down the Hawthornes and change her destiny-to what extent, even she doesn’t yet know.

The Gray is growing stronger every day, and its victims are piling up. When Violet accidentally unleashes the monster, all three must band together with the other Founders to unearth the dark truths behind their families’ abilities—before the Gray devours them all.

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

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Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.

But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show’s guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.

Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he’ll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too.

As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous…and momentous.

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Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy, #1) by Emily A. Duncan

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

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Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she engages the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant and alluring investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.


What are some of your favorite covers for 2019 releases? Are you excited about any of the books that I shared?

 

 

Talk Me Into/Out Of… Books on My TBR

Fun fact about me: I’m a pretty avid Redditor. I won’t deny that I visit the amazing site every single day. It’s my dose of daily news and random fun stuff. If you wonder why I’m not the biggest Twitter person, it’s because you’ll find me on Reddit instead. And one of my favorites subs is Asian Beauty (HUGE k-beauty fan right hurrrr!), which will occasionally host one of my favorite threads, Talk Me Into/Out Of. It’s basically just a thread where different Redditors will post products that they’re on the fence about purchasing and would like for others more familiar with said product, to give them little reviews on it and whether or not they thought it was worth purchasing.

This got me thinking about how awesome would it be to apply this same post to books on my TBR that I’m not really sure on whether or not I want to keep them around. That’s a great thing about this community, you can always count on someone else to have read a book that you’re interested in!… Anyways, below I will list some of the books that I’m not really sure about and if you’ve read them then please let me know what your thoughts are on them! Help a sister out, please!!!

And so it begins…


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Rosemarked (Rosemarked, #1) by Livia Blackburne

This book was being mentioned a lot when it was first released back in the fall. I think it was mostly because of a really strong marketing campaign and was sent in a couple of different subscription boxes, as I haven’t heard it being talked about since then. The synopsis sounds interesting but I also get this feeling that it could also be a really slow read, and I just don’t prefer slow fantasy novels. I like to be really engaged in the stories I’m reading (who doesn’t, right?!). And as someone with TONS of fantasies that really interest me, this one I’m just not sure about.

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Ash Princess (Ash Princess, #3) by Laura Sebastian

I’m really on the fence about this one. On the one hand, the synopsis sounds like every single other fantasy novel out there and on the other, it seems that a lot of people have really been enjoying it. It’s a book that I don’t already own and so I’m just not sure if it’s worth it.

 

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The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson

I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary novels in the first place, and this one also suffers from a fairly low rating on Goodreads. The only reason that I haven’t tossed it yet is because I actually own a copy that I received in a Book of the Month box. The synopsis sounds pretty interesting and different than anything I’ve ever read, but then I think there must be a reason for all of the low ratings – such as shitty writing, underdeveloped characters, or over-dramatization (the biggest offender in contemporary novels!). I’m just not sure how I feel about reading a book that will probably not leave me in the best mood. I just prefer upbeat stories.. Sorry, not sorry!

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Given to the Sea (Given Duet, #1) by Mindy McGinnis

So this book was sent out in a FairyLoot box, which means it should’ve been really popular with tons of reviews. However, I don’t remember ever seeing even one. Which is a little disheartening, especially after seeing how low the ratings are for it on Goodreads. I also know how McGinnis can be a really hit or miss author for most people, and I wasn’t particularly impressed by the one book of hers that I’ve read. However, I think this is her first venture into the true fantasy genre so it could be better than her contemporary novels.

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Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist, #1) by Renee Ahdieh

I was really excited about this book when it was first being announced. I mean, I know we were all excited to hear about a book inspired by the story of Mulan. However, since this book was released, I’ve heard tons of talk that the story was actually really slow and boring. HOW CAN YOU TURN MULAN INTO A BORING RETELLING?!?!?! So yeah, I’m not sure how I really feel about that now. For a book that I was initially really excited for, I now could care less about it.


Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, please talk me into/out of them. If you want to recommend another book instead, please feel free to do so as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hype or Like Friday – Spreading the Love!

This meme and Goodreads group were created by myself, Jill @ Rant and Rave Books, and Britt @ Geronimo Reads. To join our group and find out more information about what it’s all about, please go to our Goodreads page HERE.

The November BOTM is City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson.

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RULES:

  • Answer the weekly discussion topic.
  • Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
  • Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Spreading the Love!… What upcoming diverse novels (unreleased or personal TBR) are you most looking forward to reading?


If you’re freaking out at the fact that I haven’t read some of these books already, you’re not the only one. I want to kick myself for not getting to some of these before now, especially the ones that I’ve had since they first came out. This is how I know I have wayyyy too many books and not enough time to get to them all. Maybe I should just quit my day job and become a professional reader… Who wants to pay me to do that?! If you can provide health insurance as well, that’d be great. 🙂


What diverse books are you excited to read? Have you read any of the ones on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments below!