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Brought together by Magic. Torn apart by war.

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  *Contains minor spoilers* I want to start this off by saying this book is not your normal World War II historical fiction. I mean, you can see the main character's face on the cover! (haha) Jokes aside, most World War II historical fiction books rely so much on the violence and horrific things happening that the rest of the story gets lost. In The Circus Train, the characters and their relationships fuel the story. The war is truly in the background for the majority of the book, which is divided into 3 parts (the only part that contains in-depth scenes and depictions of what was going on outside of the train is Part 2). We begin in 1929 with the birth of our main character, Lena. Her mother, Gia, goes into labor prematurely and dies shortly after Lena is born. Because she was born so early, she is very weak and sick, which makes matters worse when she contracts polio. This leaves her unable to walk. From here we flash forward to 1938, aboard The World of Wonders circus train. Len...
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We Deserve Monuments is a MUST read!

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 Jas Hammonds truly hit it out of the park with this debut novel. Family secrets, generational trauma, romance, racism in the deep south - this book covers a lot. And it does it beautifully! I truly couldn't put this one down. Avery is a seventeen-year-old girl who knows exactly what she wants. Or at least, she always thought she knew what she wanted. That is until her whole life turned upside down. It has always been her and her parents, school, extracurriculars, advanced level classes, and of course, her two best friends. But when her Mama Letty, her grandmother who she has no memories of, is diagnosed with cancer Avery's mother uproots them all and moves them to the middle of nowhere Georgia to take care of her. So now it is the beginning of senior year and Avery is starting a new school, with no friends and no idea what to expect.  Simone Cole is Mama Letty's neighbor and also a high school senior. She quickly befriends Avery and encourages her to give grouchy & col...
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Wow, it has been a minute.

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 I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on here. Honestly, it has been a rough almost two months. If you follow me on Tiktok, I know I haven't said anything about it. I'm trying to respect my kiddos privacy, but we have been through the ringer trying to get them the help that they need. You may have noticed that there haven't been as many B&N posts either on my Tiktok. I had to take a leave of absence and just started back this week. So those posts should be resuming, too.  Life has slowly been returning to normal but there are still daily ups & downs. I'm hoping to be back here posting more regularly. I have A TON of books to update you on and I can't wait to tell you about them all. 
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I don't often DNF books...

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  ...but I definitely didn't finish this one. Woof. This was rough. It is very rare for me to dislike a book. I can almost always find something that I enjoy enough to keep me moving through. Maybe it's just the headspace that I'm in now, but I just couldn't deal with this main character, Bettie. She is snotty and entitled and there were just no redeeming qualities. Between her attitude and Hall (the main love interest) who is supposed to be spreading Christmas cheer but was just wayyyy to overdone, I couldn't do it. I got just about half way through and threw in the towel.  I feel like I should also mention that I LOVE Christmas. I am the person who starts decorating before Thanksgiving and who listens to Christmas music the day after Halloween. I love cheesy Christmas rom-coms! And I couldn't do this one. Sorry NetGalley, this is the first one that I just really couldn't get through. 
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Magic always comes with a cost.

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  **CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS** One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig is a perfectly dark and spooky gothic novel. This is a YA Fantasy debut by Gillig and is the first in a duology.  The story is set in the kingdom of Blunder, an ancient kingdom that for all written history has been ruled by the Rowan family. Before the Rowan family however, came the Shepherd King (of which not much is known). He ruled the land in harmony with the Spirit of the Woods, who would bestow gifts of magic upon request. When the Shepherd King himself went to Spirit and asked for the power, she gave it, and with it he created the 12 providence cards. Each card containing a different magical power. Unfortunately, this led to people using the cards instead of the Spirit and she got horribly jealous. So much so that she cast a mist over Blunder and every year since, it has taken over more and more of the kingdom. This mist will take you and lure you into the woods to never return, unless you should have a cha...
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The island will always call you back...

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Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young is a dark and spooky read that you will not want to put down! A bit slow to start since there is a lot of back story to cover, but once the action begins, you will be hooked.  Saiorse Island is a mysterious and magical island off the coast of Seattle in the Pacific Northwest. It is home to a long line of families who have always lived there. These families live quietly, relying on the summer and fall tourist season to bring in visitors to the orchard and small witchy shops full of teas, herbs, and other handmade goods. No one that wasn't from Saiorse stayed and those from Saiorse didn't leave - except for August Salt and his mother.  On the night of August's high school graduation fourteen years ago, a fire broke out in his family's orchard; the orchard that was the main provider for the island. At the same time, one of his close friends, Lily, was found dead. After being labeled the main suspect, the people of the island turned a...
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First blog post!

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 Hi friends, I figured since that's how I start my Tiktoks, I'd do the same here. I joined Tiktok almost a year ago, intending it to just be a fun place to get book recommendations and talk about books that I love. I never dreamed that almost a year later I would have 2,200 followers and be receiving arcs from NetGalley and publishers. Can it get overwhelming? Sure! I mean, I do have two kids and I'm also a professor. But reading has always been an escape for me, I have been an avid reader my whole life. My mom loves to tell the story of how I always had my nose stuck in a book and when I got it trouble, she would take away my book/reading time as a punishment. One thing that has changed (thanks to Booktok) is that I read so many more genres than I used to. Before, I really stuck to romance and mystery/thrillers. It is what my mom and grandmother read so we would all just share. But now...now I have discovered the world of fantasy and I am in love. I have read so many amazi...
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