The Bookshelf Tag!

Hello, everybody! Today I have a fun tag that I found on Paper Fury by Cait so please check it out because she has a pretty cool blog! Anyhoo, I stumbled upon on the tag and thought it'd be really fun to do so here I am. It's kind of a long one so let's get started before I ramble on too much!

DESCRIBE YOUR BOOKSHELF AND WHERE IT'S FROM

My glorious shelves are the Billy bookshelves I got from IKEA, yet another place I live at and can't seem to visit enough. I swear I heard angels singing when I saw them. There was a literal spotlight and everything.

HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE YOUR BOOKS?

I'm pretty picky and calculated on how I organize, whether it's where the book will look best or if it belongs in a series. My shelves are mainly organized by series then go into duologies and finally stand-alones and a mix of adult and non-fiction books as well as classics. I'm a neat freak.

WHAT'S THE THICKET BOOK ON YOUR SHELF?

This bind-up of Edgar Allen's Poe works and Classic Tales of Horror are both over 850+ pages. But they're both surprisingly light.

WHAT'S THE THINNEST BOOK ON YOUR SHELF?

This little guy is only about 86 pages and it's just so cute to see on my shelf. I haven't read it read but I'm pretty sure it will be a quick read.

IS THERE A BOOK YOU RECEIVED AS A BIRTHDAY GIFT?

I've received a few other books as gifts such as the Classic Tales of Horror but these are my favorites! I got Library Of Souls from my sister for my birthday, these awesome Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew vintage editions from a friend because she knows I have an obsession with them, and Bag of Bones from my brother since he bought a WAY fancier edition and gave me the paperback. Yay!

WHAT'S THE SHORTEST BOOK ON YOUR SHELF?

This is just a random book I bought at my library because it's just so cute and I'm a sucker for old books. It's an edition from the 1940's and with the green and gold color, I just needed it.

WHAT'S THE TALLEST BOOK ON YOUR SHELF?

This is probably the weirdest and most random book I've ever bought . . . which is why I bought it in the first place. This book sits right next to my shelves since it's way too tall to fit on any of them, not to mention I have no idea what this book is about. It's a board book with cartoon/comic illustrations with no obvious form of a story. Other than the cover and the title, it's a vague clue but not a for sure thing.

IS THERE A BOOK FROM A FRIEND ON YOUR SHELF?

My friend bought me this book a while ago because she thought it looked like something I'd enjoy. Turns out, I had been searching high and low for MONTHS trying to find a copy! It was a pleasant surprise for the both of us!

THE LAST BOOK YOU READ ON YOUR SHELF?

I haven't actually finished this one. I decided to put it on hold for now since I wasn't in the mood for the type of book that it is. Don't get me wrong, I was loving it! I just wanted something a little faster paced at the time.

DO YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE COPY OF A BOOK?

What? Me? No, not at all. That's crazy talk.

DO YOU HAVE A COMPLETE SERIES?

I have a few other complete series but these are just a few of my favorites.

WHAT'S THE NEWEST ADDITION TO YOUR SHELF?

THESE ONES!

WHAT BOOK HAS BEEN ON YOUR SHELF SINCE FOREVERRR?

Too many to name but one particular one is Young Samurai: The Way Of The Dragon and I keep it because not only does it look and sound cool, but it's a sequel to a book I've never read. So obviously I have to hold onto it, right?

WHAT'S THE MOST RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK ON YOUR SHELF?

I've been very strict with myself on the books I buy this year which means mostly getting only 2016 publishings. So far, I've done pretty nicely with this being the most recently published book this year back in February.

A BOOK YOU WON?

So far, I've never won any books BUT anything can happen!

A BOOK YOU'D HATE TO LET OUT OF YOUR SIGHT?

Um, all of them. Literally, the only people I lend my books out to are my siblings since my sister lives down the street and my brother across the hall so I can keep an eye on my books. My friends actually have to assure me every other minute that one of my books is safely intact. I'm not even kidding.

MOST BEAT UP BOOK?

I keep my books in as pristine a condition as possible but I love buying old vintage books so I have quite a few that are very beat up and seem like they're about to fall apart at the seams. Some of the spines are even starting to come off.

MOST PRISTINE BOOK?

That would probably have to be any of my most recent purchases that have been published sometime this year. But as I said, I take very good care of my books. I don't even let the air blow on them!

A BOOK FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD?

I used to read these books almost every single day and I've read them countless times throughout my life on into my teen years. I never get tired of them!

A BOOK THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY YOUR BOOK?

I have a couple of books that my mom keeps on my shelf since she ran out of room on her own bookshelf. We're obviously a family of readers.

A BOOK THAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

I'm a sucker for any book with the color blue on it. If it wasn't obvious.

ANY SIGNED BOOKS?

Just a few . . .

So that's it, everybody! I hope you guys enjoyed this tag and if you want to do this, please do! I'd love to see your post on it and feel free to say I tagged you. Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Review: The Night Things by Terry M. West

The Night Things by Terry M. West

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Rating: M

Genre: Horror, Fantasy

Score: ❤❤❤

Page Count: 238

Stand Alone

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: January 22, 2016

This novel spans several centuries, following the relationship of the two most iconic monsters in literary history. Once as close as brothers but now sworn enemies, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein meet for a final showdown beneath the streets of New York City. 

Night Things (Dracula versus Frankenstein) takes place in a world just like yours with one startling difference: every creature of legend has stepped forward from the shadow and they now exist shoulder to shoulder with humankind! New York City has become a macabre melting pot. Vampires, werewolves, zombies and ghouls are now the new immigrants and they are chasing the American dream. The Night Things have become part of the system. But many humans feel the creatures are dangerous ticking time bombs. 

Dracula, considered the messiah of the Night Things, builds an unstoppable army as he plots to wipe humanity from the face of the earth. The mysterious New York crime boss, Johnny Stücke (the creation of Frankenstein) wants to keep the peace between the Night Things and humanity. Stücke fears total extermination of his kind, should Dracula unleash his forces on New York. 

The fight for the night begins. 

Critically-acclaimed horror author Terry M. West continues his Magic Now series with this standalone novel that presents a world only a slight shade darker than our own.

I was sent this book by the author in exchange for an HONEST review. All thoughts and opinions are my own with respect to the author.

REVIEW:

PROS:

1. When I was first contacted to review this book, I was pretty interested as soon as I read the synopsis of this novel. As a lover of all things creepy and dark, I was really excited to dive into this novel to see how this cool new spin on the famous Dracula and Frankenstein would play out. It's hard for me to find horror stories that are something fresh and unique so I jumped at the chance to read this one since it's a pretty interesting concept on the whole 'creatures of the night' aspect. Let's get the review started!

2. The first thing I really loved about this book was the amount of experimentation that went into the storytelling. It was a book that I could never quite predict since there were a lot of twists and turns to keep the story going and keep me guessing as to what would happen next. I loved that it played with different elements such as multiple POV's, switching from different periods of time, adding in more creatures other than vampires and werewolves, and even crossed boundaries in a weird, dark and taboo way. I appreciated that the book didn't shy away from its subject matters and it was very diverse because of its daring approach. 

3. The world and its characters that the author was able to create were very believable and nothing seemed out of place. The alternate universe of its New York City setting was just as dark and mysterious as Dracula himself. Full of back-alley meetings and just enough dramatics, this book was nothing short of riveting. The author paints a classic picture of a horror story with a twist of it set in a modern time with characters you both care and don't care about, leaving you wondering what will happen next.

CONS:

4. A few things I didn't like about the book was that it was an easy enough book to put down. Although exciting, I found myself drifting too easily from the story and reading only bits and pieces whenever I had time to read. I'm not sure if it was simply that it was a slower paced story in the beginning towards the climax for me, or if it was because I couldn't connect with the characters enough. Either way, it prevented me from enjoying the book as much as I would've liked.

5. Another thing I personally didn't really mind but that you as a reader should know about is that this book also does involve gore, heavy drug use, some foul language and a descriptive scene of a pornographic movie being made in the book. I wouldn't recommend this book at all to a reader any younger than maybe 16 no matter how much you love a good horror story. I actually admit to skipping over the movie scene since that's not the type of material I'm comfortable with reading but I also felt like it wouldn't affect my review of this book in a big way. If you have a weak stomach, you probably shouldn't read this one either.

Overall, The Night things was a unique story and spin on the classic horror figures we all know and love and if it sounds like something you'd enjoy, I really encourage you to give it a shot! Maybe it'll be your favorite read of the month.

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I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Lunar Chronicles Playlist!

Time for another Music Matching Monday! Instead of the usual pairing of one book with one song that reminds me of the book, I thought I'd make a mini playlist for one of my favorite series of all time: The Lunar Chronicles. There are quite a few songs out there that remind me of the series for many reasons so I'll be sharing some of my favorites with you guys! The first four songs remind me of the individual books and the rest remind me of the series as a whole including the short stories and Queen Levana's novel. So, get your headphones ready!

1. Cinder: Shine Supernova by Cody Simpson

2. Scarlet: Catch My Breath by Kelly Clarkson

3. Cress: Bad For Me by Megan & Liz

4. Winter: Pretty Tragedy by Nikki Florres

5. Fairest: Queen Levana: Cold Blooded by JoJo

6. Series: One More by Superchick

Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Follow Me Around: Art Fair!

Hello, everybody! Today I thought I'd write up another quick post and show you guys what I did today. I live in an art district in my city which is quite nice since I'm an artist myself and every year, my city has an event called 'Arts In The Square' which is a fair dedicated to showing off anything from music to traditional art and everything in between such as jewelry, home decor, pottery, nicknacks and so much more. Everything is hand crafted so you're bound to find one of a kind items. I normally miss the event every year but luckily, I was able to venture out and finally attend and I had so much fun!

The district is surrounded by restaurants and takes place in the middle of a shopping center with a theater just a few yards away and my library which is just glorious. It's usually never busy during the weekend but today it was bustling with people looking around and purchasing such cool items. 

This picture is one I took of some really cool coasters with sights from around Texas, which is where I live, and it was so cool seeing some of the places that I pass every day or have been to once before. They were very well crafted and I'm so sad I didn't pick any up before leaving. That's what I get for forgetting.

I also found these really cool metal posters that I thought a friend of mine would really love since she's a big Broadway fanatic and I had a feeling my brother would have loved the one with video games and other pop culture on it. It was just such a cool find and I'm sad I couldn't buy one. Oh, the agony!

 

I also thought these folding photo albums were so cute and I almost bought a couple of them but I don't exactly take enough pictures to have benefited from them. I also beelined to these beautiful leather journals and purses that I wanted so much. There were all different sizes and styles of these journals, one even had a dragon on it.

I actually ended up buying one of the journals since it was just the perfect size for me. It's a bit big to be a travel size but I just loved it too much to walk away. I was also tempted to get one of the pocket size journals but decided not to spoil myself today.

If you're interested in the journals and bags, click here to visit the creators' website!

The paper is just such a cool texture so I'm really excited to start sketching in it to try out some new art materials and see how it is to sketch in. 

I was also told that this particular journal was crafted in the same style that was used by Lewis and Clark on their travels. Being a history buff, I was sold at that information. 

So I hope you guys enjoyed reading about today's little adventure! Let me know in the comments if you want to see more of these types of 'follow me around' posts. I won't post them often but I think it might be fun to put one up every now and then to mix things up a bit. Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

My Book On Goodreads!

Add It On Goodreads!

Hello, people of the bookish world! Or the real world. Either world, hi. I just wanted to take a quick minute to let you guys know that my book is officially on Goodreads! It was easy enough putting it up but I honestly didn't even think to put it on Goodreads simply because the idea just didn't occur me. Whoops. Anyway, you can now add it to your library if you want so that maybe one day you might pick up a copy, which you can purchase HERE is you're interested. By all means, you don't have to pick up a copy, I'm just letting you know in case you're interested.

With that being said, I hope you guys have an awesome day filled with lots of books and coffee. Or tea, whatever floats your boat. Why am I so weird? Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

SYNOPSIS:

Evie Montez is a young photographer with an eye for the world around her. But with her sister Nora's wedding only a few weeks away with lots of planning still left to do and many other things to deal with like school and work, things start to take unexpected turns. Throw in a really cute guy who looks like he just stepped out of the 1920's and things can't get any more strange. Evie is used to keeping her feelings hidden but as she goes through twists and turns and many ups and downs, she realizes that some of the best moments are those that leave you more confused than ever.

Even though she's helping Nora plan for the future, Evie can't seem to shake things from her past that continue to haunt her. She's forced to come face to face with her secrets and pain when she starts to discover that second chances don't always come in normal packages. Like a photograph, the past never fades. But like the future, there's always something new.

PS. I'm also currently in the process of putting my book up on Amazon for digital downloading so fingers crossed I get that done soon! I'm very excited about it so I hope you might be too! K, byeeeee!

Collective Book Haul: February & March!

Hello, fellow book lovers! Today I'm here with a new book haul after a very long time. I skipped a book haul last month since I only bought three books which I'll show in this post later. I've been focusing my spending on other things lately and have been buying very few books which I'm actually quite proud of myself for. My bookshelves are pretty full as is so I want to fill up every little crack with books that I know for a fact I'll read or reread in the future. 

I've also gotten rid of about 50+ books in the past four or five months that have allowed me to buy more books, something that I'm also very happy about. I decided to clean out my shelves since I was so tired of seeing my TBR grow when most of the books in my pile were ones that I was never going to read or no longer had any interest in reading. I'm still in the process of getting rid of some books to my friends and to charity so let's celebrate with a book haul!

The Only Pirate At The Party by Lindsey Stirling and Brooke S. Passey (Signed) - BAM- $24

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer- Wal-Mart- $13

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins- Amazon- $4

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen- Half Price Books- $7

Geek Girl by Holly Smale- Amazon- $4

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein- Half Price Books- $6

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness- Half Price Books- $5

CD's:

Pulses by Karmin- Amazon- $4

Hello by Karmin (EP)- Amazon- $4

Deux by Megan & Liz (EP) (Signed) - $15

Gilmore Girls Soundtrack- Thrift Store- $1

myBOOKbag:

The Reluctant Sacrifice by Kerr-Ann Dempsey 

I Don't Want To Be Your Bridesmaid by Adina Ferguson

I also purchased a couple of art books including Pop Painting by Camilla De Errico and the other about facial anatomy. I also bought this really cute Paris journal that I use for writing down blogging ideas and it's been a big help!

So now that the long haul is finally done, I hope you guys enjoyed! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Music Matching Monday: One

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Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body.

Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy.

But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi.

How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives?

My Review: One by Sarah Crossan

This book is one of my favorite contemporaries to date since it deals with a very unusual storyline with having the characters be conjoined twins. I first heard about this book last year and I just had to add it to my bookshelf and read it as soon as possible. I fell in love with the book, the writing style, the characters, the story, the deeper meaning. Everything about it. I love that Grace and Tippi are sisters that really rely on each other for more than just what is physically needed but also emotionally there to help the other up. They really only need each other to be happy and that's why this story is such a heartwarming one while also a little heartbreaking but a beautiful story nonetheless. If you have a sister or a sibling that's more like your best friend, then I highly recommend this book!

HOME IS YOU by Megan & Liz