It's Monday! What Are You Reading #712, January 27th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #711
Teaser Tuesday #719
WWW Wednesday #719
WOW #715
Will the Time Come #712
Third Sentence Thursday #702
Random Reads #688
First Lines Friday #715
Book Blogger Hop #381

23 Books to Read in 2023 Update 16

Monthly ARC's Update 105
The Reward Challenge Update #697
Wheel of TBR #244
How Well I Stuck to It #549
Wrote that Review Update #546

Week 4 Reviews:

Death at a Highland Wedding

The Stepsister's Tale

Sofi and the Bone Song 

Of Mountains and Seas

I Am Not Jessica Chen

Onyx Storm 

Memories of Ash

Voice of the Ocean

The Secret War

Don't Let Me Go

Phase Out Your TBR: 

Update 8

Update 9

Update 10

Update 11

Update 12

Update 13

Update 14

Update 15

Phase Out Your Seriesathon: 

Update 2

Update 3

Update 4

Magical Readathon: Orilium: 

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

OK, so I got 38 posts in 7 days, and it was sa pretty decent week, I took it slowly, I've had Jax with me, and I'm working on building my new bookshelves, and reorganizing things, and it's taking a minute to move all these books around. What about you guys? Happy reading!

So this week I want to read The Dryad Storm!

Who can survive the Shadow storm?

Black Witch of prophecy Elloren Gardner Grey has unleashed her powers and embraced her legacy as a Dryad and guardian of the Forest. But the losses — of life, of love — have been almost too great to withstand as the Shadow continues to devour the world. With only a tattered shred of hope remaining, the Bearers of the Wand of Myth must battle their way back to each other to mount a final stand.

But Elloren and her allies are not only facing Mage Vogel’s advancing forces, the armies of the Eastern Realm will stop at nothing to see the Black Witch struck down.

With Elloren’s bonded mate prophesied to kill her, Shadow demons rising, and the ties between allies unravelling, can this fracturing world unite to face down the coming storm?

Week 4 Review: Sofi and the Bone Song

From Goodreads:

In this gorgeous standalone fantasy with a “sweet sapphic romance” ( Booklist ), a young musician sets out to expose her rival for illegal use of magic only to discover the deception goes deeper than she could have imagined—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens !

Music runs in Sofi's blood.

Her father is a Musik, one of only five musicians in the country licensed to compose and perform original songs. In the kingdom of Aell, where winter is endless and magic is accessible to all, there are strict anti-magic laws ensuring music remains the last untouched art.

Sofi has spent her entire life training to inherit her father's title. But on the day of the auditions, she is presented with unexpected competition in the form of Lara, a girl who has never before played the lute. Yet somehow, to Sofi's horror, Lara puts on a performance that thoroughly enchants the judges.

Almost like magic.

The same day Lara wins the title of Musik, Sofi's father dies, and a grieving Sofi sets out to prove Lara is using illegal magic in her performances. But the more time she spends with Lara, the more Sofi begins to doubt everything she knows about her family, her music, and the girl she thought was her enemy.

As Sofi works to reclaim her rightful place as a Musik, she is forced to face the dark secrets of her past and the magic she was trained to avoid—all while trying not to fall for the girl who stole her future.

My Review:


Author: Adrienne Tooley 
Read: January 19th, 2025 
Source: Ebook.bke 
Reason Why: Sounded good, and it's a SAC 2025 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: April 19th 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Phase Out Your TBR Update 7

So I've read my next book for the Phase Out Your TBR, and it was Sofi and the Bone Song which is for the prompt Red 7 and I'll be reading Onyx Storm next! 

My Reading Journey:

Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 12

Started On: January 14th, 

Finished On: January 14th, 7:28 PM 

Pages Read: 416

The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 7

Started On: January 15th

Finished On: January 15th, 11:38 AM

Pages Read: 496

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

Prompt Fulfilled: Green 4

Started On: January 16th

Finished On: January 16th, 8:41 PM

Pages Read: 368

The Warrior God by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson

Prompt Fulfilled: Green 6

Started On: January 17th

Finished On: January 17th, 2:51 PM

Pages Read: 306

The Golden God by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 8

Started On: January 17th

Finished On: January 17th, 9:18 PM

Pages Read: 270

Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 10

Started On: January 18th

Finished On: January 18th, 2:28 PM

Pages Read: 441

Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley

Prompt Fulfilled: Red 7

Started On: January 19th

Finished On: January 19th, 4:29 PM

Pages Read: 416

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Prompt Fulfilled: Green 12

Started On: January 21st 

Currently On: Page 0 of 554

Prompts Left: Green 2, Green Wild (Green 4), Green 5, Green 9, Red 6, Red 12, Red 12, Yellow 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 9, Blue 3, Blue 7, Green 7, Blue 11

Books Read: 7

Pages Read: 4217

Phase Out Your TBR Update 6

So I've read my next book for the Phase Out Your TBR, and it was Death at the Highland Wedding which is for the prompt Yellow 10 and I'll be reading Sofi and the Bone Song next! 

My Reading Journey:

Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 12

Started On: January 14th, 

Finished On: January 14th, 7:28 PM 

Pages Read: 416

The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 7

Started On: January 15th

Finished On: January 15th, 11:38 AM

Pages Read: 496

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

Prompt Fulfilled: Green 4

Started On: January 16th

Finished On: January 16th, 8:41 PM

Pages Read: 368

The Warrior God by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson

Prompt Fulfilled: Green 6

Started On: January 17th

Finished On: January 17th, 2:51 PM

Pages Read: 306

The Golden God by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 8

Started On: January 17th

Finished On: January 17th, 9:18 PM

Pages Read: 270

Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

Prompt Fulfilled: Yellow 10

Started On: January 18th

Finished On: January 18th, 2:28 PM

Pages Read: 441

Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley

Prompt Fulfilled: Red 7

Started On: January 

Currently On: Page 0 of 416

Prompts Left: Green 2, Green Wild (Green 4), Green 5, Green 9, Green 12, Red 6, Red 12, Red 12, Yellow 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 9, Blue 3, Blue 7, Green 7, Blue 11

Books Read: 6

Pages Read: 1801

Waiting on Wednesday #567, March 23rd

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!

Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins

Expected Publication: April 19th, 2022
From Goodreads:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins, the latest riveting, deeply imaginative thriller in the Sigma Force series, told with his trademark blend of cutting-edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action.

It begins in Africa . . .

 A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. An unknown force is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, cattle-like state. The natural world surrounding them—plants and animals—have grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. The insidious phenomenon is spreading across the African continent, threatening the rest of the world. But is it a natural event? Or more terrifyingly, did someone engineer it?

What has made the biosphere run amok? Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are prepared for the extraordinary and have kept the world safe—vigilance for which they have paid a tragic personal price. Yet even these brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors do not understand what is behind this frightening development—or know how to stop it. As they race across the nation and around the globe—from Washington D.C. to the densest jungles of Africa—to find answers, the members of Sigma realize they have become prey. 

To head off global catastrophe, Sigma Force risks their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of a biosphere run amok—a truth that will illuminate who we are as a species and where we may be headed . . . sooner than we know. 

Mother Nature—red in tooth and claw—is turning against humankind, plummeting the entire world into The Savage Zone.

A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber

Expected Publication: April 19th, 2022
From Goodreads:

An all-new historical mystery in this USA Today bestselling series featuring beloved inquiry agents Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage.

Argyll, Scotland. July 1832. After a trying few months in Edinburgh, Kiera and her husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, are eager to escape to the Highlands with their three-month-old child. Kiera is overjoyed for her cousin Rye and her detractor-turned-friend Charlotte who are being wed in a private ceremony at the estate of Rye’s great-uncle, the Marquess of Barbreck, in what seems to be the perfect wedding party.

But when Kiera is invited to peruse Barbreck’s extensive art collection, she is disturbed to discover that one of his most priceless paintings seems to be a forgery. The marquess’s furious reaction when she dares to mention it leaves her shaken and the entire house shocked. For it turns out that this is not the first time the word forgery has been uttered in connection with the Barbreck household.

Matters turn more ominous when a maid from a neighboring estate is found murdered where the forged painting hangs. Is her death connected to the forgeries, perhaps a grisly warning of what awaits those who dare to probe deeper? With unknown entities aligned against them, Kiera and Gage are forced to confront the fact that they may have underestimated their opponent. For they are swiftly made to realize that Charlotte’s and Rye’s future happiness is not the only issue at stake, and this stealthy game of cat and mouse could prove to have deadly consequences. 

The Genesis Wars by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Expected Publication: April 19th, 2022
From Goodreads:

Black Mirror meets Marie Lu’s Warcross in Nami’s continuing adventures as she fights to free her friends in this high-stakes sequel to The Infinity Courts by award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman.

It’s been ten months since Nami narrowly escaped the Four Courts and Ophelia’s wrath. Ten months since she was betrayed by someone she once considered a friend. Someone she poured her heart out to. And now her family here in the afterlife are gone, captured, and Nami is utterly alone.

On the run, only steps ahead of the AI forces pursuing her, and desperate to free her friends, Nami must take the allies she can find, even if she doesn’t fully trust them. And as she tests the limits of her own power, she must also reckon with the responsibility that entails.

Stakes are high as Nami navigates old enemies, unexpected allies, and an ever-changing landscape filled with dangers and twists at every turn. Along the way, she’ll learn powerful truths about who she can trust and the sacrifices that must be made in order to fight for a better, freer world for all. 

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson

Expected Publication: April 19th, 2022
From Goodreads:

From critically acclaimed Shaun David Hutchinson comes a gritty and raw portrayal of the oftentimes traumatic experience of growing up.

Virgil Knox was attacked by a monster.

Of course, no one in Merritt believes him. Not even after he stumbled into the busy town center, bleeding, battered, and bruised, for everyone to see. He’d been drinking, they said. He was hanging out where he wasn’t supposed to, they said. It must’ve been a bear, or a badger, or a gator—definitely no monster.

Virgil doesn’t think it was any of those things. He’s positive it was a monster. But being the new kid in a town where everybody knows everybody is hard enough as it is without being the kid who’s afraid of monsters, so he tries to keep a low profile.

Except he knows the monster is still out there. And if he isn’t careful, Virgil’s afraid it’ll come back to finish him off, or worse—that he’ll become one himself. 

Spfi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley

Expected Publication: April 19th, 2022
From Goodreads:

In this gorgeous, queer standalone fantasy, a young musician sets out to expose her rival for illegal use of magic only to discover the deception goes deeper than she could have imagined—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens!

Music runs in Sofi’s blood.

Her father is a Musik, one of only five musicians in the country licensed to compose and perform original songs. In the kingdom of Aell, where winter is endless and magic is accessible to all, there are strict anti-magic laws ensuring music remains the last untouched art.

Sofi has spent her entire life training to inherit her father’s title. But on the day of the auditions, she is presented with unexpected competition in the form of Lara, a girl who has never before played the lute. Yet somehow, to Sofi’s horror, Lara puts on a performance that thoroughly enchants the judges.

Almost like magic.

The same day Lara wins the title of Musik, Sofi’s father dies, and a grieving Sofi sets out to prove Lara is using illegal magic in her performances. But the more time she spends with Lara, the more Sofi begins to doubt everything she knows about her family, her music, and the girl she thought was her enemy.

As Sofi works to reclaim her rightful place as a Musik, she is forced to face the dark secrets of her past and the magic she was trained to avoid—all while trying not to fall for the girl who stole her future. 

Yeah, Kingdom of Bones release has been pushed back for so long, and I'm so excited to read it! Can't wait for the rest of these books as well! What about you guys? Happy reading! 

Waiting on Wednesday #513, March 10th

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!

With You All the Way by Cynthia Hand

Expected Publication: March 30th, 2021
From Goodreads:

Ada’s life is a mess. She just caught her boyfriend cheating on her after a humiliating attempt at losing her virginity, and she’s had it up to here with her gorgeous older sister’s unsolicited advice.

But things really hit the fan during a family vacation in Hawaii, where Ada discovers her own mother is having an affair. Apparently, everyone is falling into bed with people they shouldn’t. Everyone except Ada. But when Ada decides she’s going to stop trying and start doing—sex, that is—her best laid plan overlooks an inconvenient truth:

Feelings, romantic or not, always get in the way.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Expected Publication: March 30th, 2021
From Goodreads:

The Grishaverse will be coming to Netflix soon with Shadow and Bone, an original series!

The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall. 

Bone Crier's Dawn by Kathryn Prudie

Expected Publication: March 30th, 2021
From Goodreads:

Love is a matter of life and death.

Bone Criers have been ferrying the dead into the afterlife for centuries, a dangerous duty only possible with the powers they gain from sacrificing their amourés the men destined to love them and die. But Bone Criers Ailesse and Sabine—along with Ailesse’s love, Bastien—are working to chart their own course and rewrite the rules of the afterlife. If they don’t break the soul between Ailesse and her amouré, she could die—just as Bastien’s father did.

Sabine struggles to maintain her authority as matrone of her famille—the role always destined for her sister—even as she fights to control the violent jackal power within her.

Bastien is faced with a new dilemma as the spirits of the Underworld threaten the souls of his friends—and his father.

Ailesse attempts to resist her mother’s siren song as she’s drawn into her own version of the Underworld. How will she save her friends once she’s cut off from their world?

This pulse-pounding follow-up to Bone Crier’s Moon is a story of love, sisterhood, and determination as three friends find the courage and power to shatter the boundary between the living and the dead.

Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley

Expected Publication: March 30th, 2021
From Goodreads:

In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Girls of Paper and Fire, a witch cursed to never love meets a girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a dangerous bargain to save their queendom.

Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation. But after committing the worst magical sin, she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inability to love. The only way she can get those feelings back—even for just a little while—is to steal love from others.

Wren is a source—a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself. Sources are required to train with the Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren—the only caretaker to her ailing father—has spent her life hiding her secret.

When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim. To save him, Wren proposes a bargain: if Tamsin will help her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for her father.

Of course, love bargains are a tricky thing, and these two have a long, perilous journey ahead of them—that is, if they don't kill each other first...

Yeah, another 4 books coming out! Almost all of these authors I've enjoyed and loved, and the last book sounds really great, and I can't wait for these books to all be out! What about you guys? Happy reading!