Day 3 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Non-Fiction

Happy Wednesday! It's day three of Five Fall Favorites, and yesterday I added so many new indie titles to my TBR list. We are halfway through this challenge. I remember it flying by last year because all I did was write and go to work that week. This year has been the same. It feels like if I'm not writing, I am working, and if I'm not working, I am writing. I think the first break I've taken since Sunday, was yesterday evening, after work when I taught a piano lesson. How does that tangent relate? One of today's books inspired me to start teaching piano.

Today's theme should be self-explanatory. If you are familiar with book genres you probably know what it means, but with the number of times every week, that I am asked to explain what "Non-Fiction" is, I thought it could be good to begin with a definition. According to Dictionary.com, Nonfiction is a noun that refers to, "the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and essay (fiction and poetry and drama)." So, non-fiction is a broad term, for narrative prose books. I typically explain nonfiction as books about facts and juxtapose it to fiction books as being made-up stories. Although, that doesn't really account for books that are theories and opinion. It helps most people follow along. Today, I use that broad definition to my advantage when picking the books for today's list. These books are on wildly different topics. Before I give everything away, let's get started.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Outside of the Bible, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is the definitive book on how to have relations with people. It's an older book, published in 1936 but it's principles and advice still ring true today. Written in a conversational style and filled with lots of interesting stories, it's a book that I go back to when I need a reminder that how you treat people matters. Additionally, the tips are so practical that they apply not only business relationships, but every relationship including family, friends and romantic relationships.

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2. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

I highly, highly recommend, this book. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz is just as entertaining as insightful. Voss is a former FBI negotiator, and this book is filled with the stories of how he became an FBI negotiator and his time negotiating for the FBI oversees and on American soil. He once even served as a negotiator during a bank robbery hostage situation in New York. That's just one of the exciting stories. Voss and Raz connect negotiation principles to applications beyond law enforcement and business to everyday interactions. This book is practical and informative for everyone.

 View on Good Reads.

3. The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a Time by Pilar Alessandra

While I love to write stories, I struggle to create outlines. This book is my go-to help for outlining stories. It is a screenwriting book with busy writers in mind. Covering the difference types of screenplays, it breaks down how to outline each one. I have also found that the movie outline works well for short stories and novels. Conveniently breaking outlining down into ten-minutes a day steps, this book cleverly gamifies the process making it fun. A favorite pass-time of mine is to pull out this book and set a timer spend 10-minutes outlining my next story. Originally, I discovered The Coffee Break Screenwriter: Writing Your Script Ten Minutes at a time by Pilar Alessandra at my local library, but I loved it so much, that I had to buy it.

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4. The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner's Guide to Getting Good with Money by Chelsea Fegan

I read The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner's Guide to Getting Good with Money by Chelsea Fegan back in 2019, shortly after I had graduated from college when the job market wasn't hiring. I had a part-time job so, I wanted to learn about finances to see if I could make a budget that would allow me to move out of parents' house. I was in the middle of that process, when the 2020 pandemic stuck and I didn't end up following through on that plan, but that's doesn't make this book any less valuble. This book is filled with colorful illustrations and written to be both informative and accessible. Fegan breaks down finance and budgets plainly, and she supplements with tips from other financial advisors, offering budget options for every income. The one thing I took away and applied was that the easiest way to supplement limited income is with side hustle jobs. Out of that I started making friendship bracelets again and teaching piano.

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5.  Empowering ADHD Organization and Cleaning: Stop Drowning in Overwhelm: The 28-Day Workbook for a Clutter-Free Home, Clear Mind and Productive Life by Estelle Rose

For the final book of Non-Fiction titles, Empowering ADHD Organization and Cleaning: Stop Drowning in Overwhelm: The 28-Day Workbook for a Clutter-Free Home, Clear Mind and Productive Life by Estelle Rose is an organizing book with neurodivergence at its center. While I'm not diagnosed as such, I've been using some of the tips and found them to be helpful, when I can remember to use them. Rose advocates for working with your mind and motivation to keep cleaning and organizing manageable. She makes a good case for organizing and cleaning as a form of self-care and gives a prescription for even the messiest people to get clean. Expertly explaining why traditional organizing methods often fails for people with ADHD, she encourages progress and persistence over perfection. If organizing is a struggle, this one is well worth reading.

View on Good Reads.

Conclusion

These are five of my favorite non-fiction titles. Each of these books covers a different topic, but they are all entertaining and insightful. I have found the advice very helpful and use much of it regularly. I don't read much nonfiction. Usually, it takes a good recommendation on a subject that I would like to know more about for me to finish one. My mom suggested two of the titles on this list. However, I am always keeping my eyes open for good books on writing, editing or publishing. Please send me good recommendations. I am trying to read and re-write a 300+ page first draft, and I am drowning in that overwhelm.

Tomorrow's theme was probably the hardest one to choose books for, I have a hard time reading anything Unusual or out of my normal genres, but I have been pushing myself lately and have discovered some new favorite reads. Happy reading!

Hosted by Kate from Once Upon an Ordinary and Rebekah from Read Another Page!

Check out all the other Fall Favorites of Team Walnut!

Stephanie: Books Less Travelled

Skai: Inspirational Skai

Madisyn: Madi's Musings

Abigail: Read Review Rejoice

Bethany: Vintage Volumes

Kelsey: Kelsey's Notebook

Kate: Once Upon an Ordinary

I love meeting new booklovers! Best way to do that is to follow me on Instagram: @Skai_BooksAndBracelets

Read Monday's blog here: Day 1 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Recommended

Read Tuesday's blog here: Day 2 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Need Sequel

Don't forget to enter the annual Five Fall Favorites Giveaway! Prizes include books by authors a part of this week's blogging challenge and the grand prize even includes an Amazon gift card.

Day 2 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Need Sequel

 

Welcome back to another day of Five Fall Favorites! I enjoyed reading everyone's posts from day one. I've added some new titles to my ever-growing TBR list. As I was reading the other blogs I felt like I did a bit of a weak job introducing the different section of this blog. Namely, I could have done a better job letting people know about the important links at the bottom. So, here is a fuller explanation. 

After the Five Fall Favorite book recommendations, you will find links to our hosts' pages. Kate has a full list of all the bloggers and Rebekah has the link to the Giveaway. I think she will also have the links to all the free books and short stories that bloggers are gifting on Saturday, so stay turned for those. Following that, you will find links to all of Team Walnut's blogs for easy reading access. Below that is a link to my Instagram. It's the best place to keep up with what I am reading and reviewing. You will also find my other blogs for this year. Lastly, and most importantly, is a link to the big giveaway that Five Fall Favorites does every year. This year the Raffelcopter giveaway asks that you complete simple tasks, like signing up for a newsletter or leaving a comment for entries. So please, do lots of engagement and get more entries. Now on to today's blog.

Have you ever finished a book and still wanted more? Today I decided to tackle one of the alternate themes. (Sorry I have such a difficult relationship with Indie books and authors. I didn't want to hurt anyone by including them or not including them in a favorites list.) I am sharing five books that when I finished them, I said, "I Need a Sequel." All of these are fiction book that have a similar topic in common, but the stories and age levels are wildly different. I also have different reasons for why they could have a good sequel or even a prequel. Below includes even a few fan theories about what I think would or should happen.

1. How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez

How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez is a hilarious rom-com book. When overachiever and obsessive planner, pre-med student, Astrid learns that her flaky, dorky boyfriend who spends way too much time in the bathroom is actually the superhero who saved her life in high school, her life is turned upside down. On top of homework, internships, and part-time jobs, she now has to take survival training for the romantic partners of superheroes. This book is about facing one's fears and asking for help.

So, this book really needs a sequel, but actually I want it to be a prequel. In this book Astrid is the star, with the narration only ever following her. At the beginning of the book Astrid is already dating Max, the superhero. However, there are so many moments where the story alludes to them reconnecting the previous year and some subplot where Max's roommate turned out to be a supervillain. We got a few past scenes from Astrid's perspective, but I want the full story of them falling in love and Max's roommate drama. I need a story told from Max's perspective, I would call it, "How to Date a Civilian (And Keep Your Identity Secret,)" and it would end with the inciting action of the first book when Astrid learns his secret identity. I've probably thought way too long about this.

View on good reads.

2. Break the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel by Lisa Jewell

Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell is an incredible slow burn thriller. Jessica Jones has been a victim, a monster, an Avenger, and now she's just a New York, private eye. Life has come full circle for her when a socialite and therapist mother comes into her office. The mother asks Jessica to investigate her teenagers returning brainwashed after a summer visit to their father's English countryside manner. Ever since Jessica was kidnapped, mind controlled, and forced to use her superhuman abilities to serve the whims of an evil man, she has struggled with her place in the world and if she can still be a hero. If someone else is doing the same thing to other teenagers, Jessica has to stop it.

Jessica Jones is a character from Marvel comics and has her own TV series, but when I read this book, I didn't know anything about her. Still Jewell and Jones have won my heart before the end. At the end of this story, I was so proud of the small steps Jessica took to becoming her own person. When it was over there was still so much more for her to do and being a character from Marvel Comics there are also so many more villains she could face. Marvel Crime has scheduled a sequel in Spring of next year starring Daredevil and written by another author, but I want more Jessica Jones written by Lisa Jewell.

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3. Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

Chosen Ones is my personal favorite Veronica Roth book. Because I had read her Divergent series as a teenager, when she released her first adult novel, shortly after I had graduated from college it felt like one of my favorite authors had grown up with me. This story felt very right for a former YA author. Sloan, as a teenager, was one of six prophesized to vanquish dark, magical forces, but there was a great cost. Now thirty years old, she still pays it every day in the form of PTSD. Even taking medicine, she still has nightmares and sleepwalks through the apartment she shares with her teenage crush turned long-term boyfriend. With the danger gone, she still stuck reliving it. Then the danger returns, and Sloan and her old friends are pulled into another world where the evil wasn't defeated.

As an avid YA reader branching out into contemporary adult novels for the first time, this was the perfect read for me. It had the former YA reader appeal but was definitely all grown up. I would caution readers this book is dark, magical, with adult language, violence, and "romantic" relationships. However, I loved Sloan and the "Dark One" we meet in the other world. I could imagine them going on other adventures and getting into more trouble together. For that reason, I would love to see this book get a sequel or possibly a movie.

View on Good Reads.

4. Spider-Man's Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber

Following the events of the previous book, Spider-Man's Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber picks up with Peter happily dating his best friend, MJ Waston, he's glad he can finally share his other life with someone. MJ is excited and eager to help, but when a new superpowered villain begins opening interdimensional portals and robbing banks in broad daylight, Peter's afraid that MJ could be in danger. Their friendship in this book went to much deeper than young romance, and the action and drama made for a fun middle grade superhero story.

Here's the problem Spider-Man's Bad Connection actually is the sequel to Spider-Man's Social Delima by the same author, however, it ended on a cliffhanger that promised an even more exciting story to end this trilogy of Spider-Man novels, but for whatever reason (I haven't been able to find the actual reason) the final book was cancelled. It was building to an epic conclusion which I was guessing would involve the symbiote, Venom's home world, but I'll never know. If you can't tell by now, I love superhero stories and am always wanting more.

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5. Has Anyone Seens Jessica Jenkins by Liz Kessler

The final book, you guessed it, is another superhero story. Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? by Liz Kessler is a completely original middle grade superhero novel. Jessica Jenkins' life was perfectly ordinary until the day she stared disappearing in Geography. Anyone who has ever felt invisible can relate, just not literally. Soon she makes new friends with other supernatural abilities. However, just Jessica begins to see the benefits of her new abilities one of her new friends is kidnapped and she will have to face real danger to help.

When I read this book a few years ago with my sister, I loved the potential of these young heroes. They quickly banded together before the novel was over, but it wrapped up a little too fast for my taste, but it also left me wanting more adventures from this young super team. There was room to explore each character more and dig deeper into the origins of their powers. This is one, I should try to read again soon.

View on Good Reads.

Conclusion

Wow! Two days down and four to go. We are already one-third of the way through. Writing down some of these potential sequel ideas has made me want to write a full fan novel, giving these books the sequels they deserve. If you dig through the various older stories on my blog, you'll find I have multiple superheroes of my own, and frankly many half-finished stories. Many of them could also use a sequel to properly continue or wrap-up their stories.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to check out my blog. We'll continue this journey together tomorrow with Non-Fiction titles. Let me tell you, I found such a wide verity of quality non-fiction, there is something for everyone. Please come back tomorrow for an eclectic selection of non-fiction titles.

Hosted by Kate from Once Upon an Ordinary and Rebekah from Read Another Page!

Check out all the other Fall Favorites of Team Walnut!

Stephanie: Books Less Travelled

Skai: Inspirational Skai

Madisyn: Madi's Musings

Abigail: Read Review Rejoice

Bethany: Vintage Volumes

Kelsey: Kelsey's Notebook

Kate: Once Upon an Ordinary

I love meeting new booklovers! Best way to do that is to follow me Instagram: @Skai_BooksAndBracelets

Read Monday's blog here: Day 1 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Recommended

Don't forget to enter the annual Five Fall Favorites Giveaway! Prizes include books by authors a part of this week's blogging challenge and the grand prize even includes an Amazon gift card.

Day 1 | Five Fall Favorites 2025: Recommended

Welcome to Inspirational Skai. In case you are new here, I thought I should give a little background. I started this blog thirteen years ago to share my fictional stories. I've taken a few breaks over the years, but late last year I came back to it. In the past few years, I started reviewing books on Instagram and thought changing this blog into one about books would be a natural extension of that. I also discovered Five Fall Favorites on Instagram from Once Upon an Ordinary. Last year was my first time doing the Five Fall Favorites it was six days of grueling blogging, and since I like punishing myself, I decided to do it again. 😉 Although this year, I have been working on this since August, and all of my prep work will make this year go smoother, I hope. We'll have to wait and see.

This year's Five Fall Favorites kicks off with a theme that makes me really glad I did this challenge last year. If I hadn't done it last year, I wouldn't have anything to talk about today. Our first theme is Books I've Recommended. To get started I went back to last year's blogs and picked Five Favorites. I limited myself to one title per day of last year's challenge. You may notice I skipped Wednesday, Day 3. That was intentional. It was a very heavy topic, with a theme of "Peace." I shared books that brought me peace. If you're curious, you can find that blog and the rest of 2024's blogs under "2024: September" on the sidebar. For today's blog I talked briefly about what I like about each book, but I also wanted to share updates on the books/authors/series. A sort of update on last year's blogs. So, without further ado, here are Five Fall Favorites, that I've Already Recommended for Five Fall Favorites. 

1. Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

Kicking today's list off is Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. I recommended this one last year for Day 1's theme, "Love" on Monday of last year's challenge. This is one of my favorite romances. Loveboat, Taipei is a messy love triangle where the main character, Ever attracts the attention of both a rich, artistic, playboy and a strong, silent, football player. However, it isn't really about the love triangle. It's about a young woman discovering herself and navigating honoring her parents and family history.

Since Loveboat, Taipei, Hing Wen has written four other novels. Two sequels, Loveboat, Reunion which follows Ever's friends Sophie and Xavier as they mend their relationships with their families and each other, and Loveboat Forever which follows Ever's younger sister, Pearl now sixteen years old and following in her sister's footsteps to Chein Tan. Pearl is a pianist and the whole story is focused on music and chronic pain interfering with playing music. Two things that I have personal experience with. Additionally, the first book was made into a direct-to-streaming movie, Love in Taipei. I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn't as good as the book. Hing Wen has also written two other novels, one of which came out last week on September 16th, 2025.

View on Good Reads.

Read the full review on Instagram

2. The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak

On the second day of last year's Five Fall Favorites, the theme was "Joy." I choose to share books where the ending wasn't necessarily the expected ending, but actually what the character needs. They are also endings that teach readers about themselves.  The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak at the surface is a romance about a normal girl who loves photography and meets a superstar boyband singer. While underneath, it's about growing up and letting go of trying to control everything.

Before writing The Heartbreakers, Novak wrote My Life with the Walter Boys which is now an Amazon show. She published three books initially, My Life with the Walter Boys, The Heartbreakers, and the sequel Paper Hearts. she started on Watt Pad, and those three titles were published with Watt Pad Press. In the past couple years those have been re-released, and she has written a sequel, My Return to the Walter Boys. Her next title is book three in The Heartbreakers series, Heartstrings. It releases next month, on October 7th, 2025. I'm currently reading a digital ARC. I will share a review on Instagram when I am done.

 View on Good Reads.

Read the full review on Instagram

3. Scorpia, Alex Rider book 5 by Anthony Horowitz

This is one of my favorite series. On Thursday of last year to match the theme of "Patience," I shared my favorite books of my favorite book series. I discovered Alex Rider when I was twelve years old, after watching the movie starring Alex Pettyfer. Alex Rider is about a fourteen-year-old schoolboy who becomes a spy after his uncle's mysterious death. As a twelve-year-old girl, I had a major crush. When the story picks in book five, Scorpia Alex has recent discovered some disconcerting things about his parents' death, and he heads to Italy to find the truth.

I read somewhere that Horowitz had written several other novels, including children's books with little success before Alex Rider. Since his TV screen writing career was doing well enough, he was going to quit writing books. Then Alex Rider: Stormbreaker became a successful young adult book. It inspired a movie, more recently a TV series, and is now a fourteen-book series. Additionally, since then he's written James Bond and Sherlock Holmes books for their estates and has a couple of successful adult mystery series. It seems to me like it's a good thing he didn't quit witting.

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4. Perfect World, Vol. 1 by Rie Aruga

Because the theme for Friday last year was "Kindness" I decided to share books about characters who show incredible kindness. I absolutely loved Perfect World, Vol. 1 by Rie Aruga. Tsugumi and Itsuki face both the challenges of disability and stigma when they begin a relationship. Tsugumi is so kind and gentle with Itsuki. In volume one of this Japanese manga, they reconnect. As they rediscover each other, they see how life and changed them, but also how life's problems haven't changed them. Book one is very exciting as, Itsuki is hospitalized by complications of his disability. Successive volumes, follow a variety of different storylines that explore different elements of spinal cord injuries as well as other types of disabilities. Most fascinating part was reading about the cultural differences of how disability is treated in another country.

Of this twelve-volume series, I have read the first seven. I'm a little over halfway finished and I have a love-hate relationship with it. All stories are built upon complications, but the complications of this story cause it to take detours away from main characters as they have other experiences and even other relationships. Tsugumi and Itsuki are challenged and sometimes grew as characters, but they also sometimes regress as characters. From volume four to volume six, there was a lot of character regression, and when the story started following some of the side characters more than the main characters, I started to lose interest. Where I left off at volume seven, it seemed the story may finally be getting back to the main characters, but I haven't read any more yet.

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5. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maeher

Finishing up last year's Five Fall Favorites, I shared my favorites reads of 2024. The final book of this post is the same as my final book of last year's blogging challenge. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maeher is a cozy romantasy adult novel. I would caution readers that it is an adult novel with adult language, adult topics and a humorous relationship with death and gore. Evie Sage is hilarious as a messy, chaotic personal assistant of a fairytale villain. She is both relatable and yet larger than life. Her boss is both a malevolent outlaw and swoon worthy gentleman. I don't often read romantasy comedies, but this titles definitely makes me wish there were more.

I recently watched an interview with the author where she talked about her series from its origins as a TikTok skit to multi-book bestselling series. There are now three books in this series, and Maeher shared that she isn't done yet. The other two titles are Apprentice to the Villain and Accomplice to the Villain. Another thing that was discussed is other potential titles to this series; she implied that Evie would be getting more promotions and maybe even other jobs. Maeher shared fan theories and suggested titles, A few memorable ones were "A Wife to the Villain" and "Acetaminophen to the Villain." I would like to propose the title "Assassin to the Villain" but I would only want to read that if she were at odd with the Villain. 

View on Good Reads.

Conclusion

Woo Hoo! I'm so excited to be back for another year of fall book blogging! I've got my TBR list ready and cannot wait to check out all of the other book recommendations. Today's blog was a trip down memory lane, revisiting last year's blogs and previous books I've read and shared. Full disclosure, for tomorrow's blog I have swapped the regular theme with one of the alternatives, so please come back tomorrow to read the sequel to today's blog. 

I would like to thank Kate and Rebekah for hosting and coordinating all the bloggers. Links to their sites as well as to all the other bloggers on Team Walnut are down below. This year they had so many bloggers that they decided it would be more manageable to break us up into teams. GO TEAM WALNUT!

Hosted by Kate from Once Upon an Ordinary and Rebekah from Read Another Page!

Check out all the other Fall Favorites of Team Walnut!

Stephanie: Books Less Travelled

Skai: Inspirational Skai

Madisyn: Madi's Musings

Abigail: Read Review Rejoice

Bethany: Vintage Volumes

Kelsey: Kelsey's Notebook

Kate: Once Upon an Ordinary

I love meeting new booklovers! Best way to do that is to follow me on Instagram: @Skai_BooksAndBracelets

Don't forget to enter the annual Five Fall Favorites Giveaway! Prizes include books by authors a part of this week's blogging challenge and the grand prize even includes an Amazon gift card.

Love Your Library August (July 29-August 25) Hosted by Bookish Beck

This month's library reading was significantly less than in July or even in June. Earlier this month, I took a week off from work and went on vacation. But I don't like to take library books on vacation; it's too easy to lose or damage a book while traveling. I spent four days in Boston, Massachusetts seeing the sights. It was my first time on the east coast, and it was certainly a change from the desert where I live. The weather was cooler and much more humid, but I found it nice that it actually cooled off in the evening. Alright, enough about the weather on my trip, let's get started on my library reading from August.

READ

• Grimm: The Icy Touch by John Shirley - This novel is based on the mid-2010s show, Grimm, a dark horror-mystery where fairytale creatures are real and deadly. I discovered this show a couple of years ago on The CW app. As my watching came to the end of the series, I wanted more. I found this book in my library's eBook collection. Unfortunately, it reads worse than a fan fiction. I would believe it, if this author never watched an episode. In this book, these characters read like cliche stereotypes, rather than their complex interesting characters they are in the show. The pacing was slow and had many subplots that didn't flow well into one story. ★★☆☆☆ Read on Libby
• Searching for Peace by Jessica Ashley - I was looking for more clean romance novels when I discovered this faith-based action romance. Elijah is veteran with a lot of scars from his time in the service. After leaving the military, he moves to a small town to work for his former commander's private security company. While Andie is a fashion designer in the big city returning to her small hometown for her grandmother's funeral. Although after her grandmother's house in ransacked and her mother is killed, Elijah and Andie have to set aside their differences to figure out who is behind these crimes and stay alive. This book had a fantastic premise, but the writing was subpar, and the audiobook narrators were hard to follow.  ★★★☆☆ Listened to on Hoopla
• Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 12 by Sorata Akiduki - In Volume 12, Shirayuki and Zen have come a long way from being strangers in the forest. Shirayuki is now a court herbalist and living at the castle. While Zen is taking on more princely duties. The announcement of Zen's older brother's coronation brings new challenges for them. One of the biggest challenges is Shirayuki will have to play host to the prince that she had once fled to avoid becoming his concubine. There were so many sweet moments between Zen and Shirayuki. It wasn't a five-star read because my favorite stories in this series are about Shirayuki practicing medicine, and this volume didn't have much of that. ★★★★☆ IG Reel

Currently Reading

• Marvel Rising: Heroes of the Round Table by Nilah Magruder
• Accomplice to the Villian by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• A Year without Autumn by Liz Kessler
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• Spider-Man: The Secret of the Sinister Six by Adam-Troy Castro IG Reel
• Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem by Nick Wyman, Michael X. Martin
• Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
• The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril by Miffie Seideman

Checked Out, To Be Read

• Grace Notes by Karen Comer IG Reel
• This Book Kills by Ravena Guron
• Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson
• Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
• The Beginner's Guide to Procreate by Roché Woodworth
• Slow Burn Summer: A Novel by Josie Silver
• The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold by Ally Carter
• Epic Baby Names for Girls: Fierce and Fisty Heroines, from Ancient Myths to Future Legends by Melanie Mannarino
• Emotional Confidence: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Emotions with Science and Scripture by Alicia Michellle

In The Reservation Queue

• Power Rangers: Force of Chaos by Diana Ma
• Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein Rebs Recs
  

On Hold, To Be Picked Up

None at this time.

Returned Unread

• The Met Gala: Iconic Moments of Fashion from the World's Most Exclusive Event - I checked this one out because it was photobook of formalwear. My sister loves fashion, especially fancy dresses. I thought she would enjoy it.
• Real Simple: Magazine May - Occasionally, I like to look at this magazine because I enjoy looking at pictures of nicely organized homes, however whenever I check the prices on the items advertised inside, I realize that it is too rich for me.
• Vocal Warm-Ups by Elaine Schmidt - When I was looking for some vocal excises to use for when I warm up before singing, I checked this one out.
• Sing! Vocal Warm-Ups for All Styles by Paul Knight - Ditto as the title above.
• The Love Interest by Helen Comerford - I was playing around with my library's new online catalogue when I found this one. They switched to a different online system a few months ago and as I was going through it, I found this new superhero romance. It looked cute, but I didn't get the chance to read it before I had to return it.
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins - I had to return this one when it was overdue. I have since checked it out again.

After so much reading in June and July, in August I only finished three titles from my library. One in each reading mode, I finished one audiobook, one physical book, and one eBook. The genres were also a verity, one a horror based on a TV show, the second, a clean Christan romance, and the final title, a fairytale retelling manga. This month's finished titles may be few, but if the currently reading list is any indication I should be able to finish more books soon.

While I was traveling, I took a break from Instagram, but I wrote a few book reviews while I was on my trip. One of the reviews I wrote was a long overdue advance readers copy review, for a juvenile graphic novel, Miraculous Chibi, Vol. 1: Pizza Pursuit and Other Cat Tales by Josh Trujillo and Carrie Harris. Since I always share a fiction story and still haven't posted anything new, here is the second part of Fairy Troubled. I really wish I had done a better job of proofreading way back when, but now it feels too late to fix it. Maybe if I decide to publish it elsewhere. 

Lastly, I have announcement! I will be participating in Five Fall Favorites again! It's hosted by Once Upon an Ordinary and Rebecca Morris I'm already busy preparing for a week of obsessive blogging. Come back from September 22-27 to follow all of my bookish ramblings. I will be sharing some recent reads as well as some childhood favorites. 

#LoveYourLibrary

Thank you again, Rebecca for coming up with this blog challenge and I have enjoyed making it a semi regular part of my writing life. Check out her blog Bookish Beck

I love making Bookish Friends! Follow me on Instagram Skai_BooksAndBracelets

Love Your Library July (July 1-July 28) Hosted by Bookish Beck

 

For the second part of Summer Reading, I really focused on audiobooks. I looked mostly for ones I could listen to while I did other things. With the reading challenge at work, I tried to at a minimum listen or read to a book for 1 hour a day. High interest audiobooks are great for that. I get almost all my audiobooks from the library. My library's main online resources for audiobooks are Libby and Hoopla. In my review, I have included links for the Libby website, so people can see what their library offers. Since all Hoopla items are visible without selecting a library, I have included links to the specific titles.  

READ

• Daredevil: Guardian Devil by Kevin Smith - This was the last of the Daredevil audiobooks I found on Hoopla while I was on my Daredevil kick. It was alright with an interesting straight forward story, but I wasn't a fan of the narrator's voice. It was more of a "Ben Afleck" Daredevil voice, but I prefer Charlie Cox's Daredevil voice. Additionally, it was a short audiobook, around two and half hours long. The premise is Daredevil saves a baby, who is prophesied to be the anti-Christ and gets pulled into a criminal's elaborate ploy.                                                                                           ★★★☆☆ Listened to on Hoopla
• Under the Surface by Diana Urban - Last year I read Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban and thoroughly enjoyed the high stakes mystery at sea. This time Urban takes readers to Paris as a group of American kids face complicated relationship and the dangers of the catacombs. While I enjoyed the premise from the beginning, it took longer to get into the action in this story, so it took me several months to finish it.  ★★★★☆ 
• Kill the Villainess, Vol. 1 by Your April and Haegi - Lost in a book and stuck living the life of a doomed villain, this girl just wants to figure out how to get back home. I picked this title up because it was a full-color manga. I was only curious what a full-colored manga would look like. The story was slow, but as the adventure progressed, I liked the main character and felt for her as she decided if she should follow her character's destiny or forge or her own path.            ★★★★☆ IG Reel
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz - My mom sent me a podcast, where a former FBI negotiator talked about how to negotiate. I was fascinated by it and wanted to learn more about his techniques. I found the library had his book as an audiobook. This book feels very practical. It's about listening to people and understanding them, so you can lead them to lead them to understanding you.                                                      ★★★★★ Listened to on Hoopla
• The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver - This book was not slow. It was an action thriller, that started with the most exciting point of the book and then went backwards to explain how it got to the climax. I checked it out because it is the novel that inspired Justin Hartley's TV show, Tracker. While this book isn't exactly like the TV show, it provides the character and backstory as the basis for the show. This one is possibly my favorite read of the month.                                                      ★★★★★ Listened to on Libby
• The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer - As a child, Lucy tried to run away from her problems and live on a remote island as the sidekick for the writer of her favorite book series. As an adult, she found that running away from her problems only works for so long, and she will have to face her problems if she wants to adopt the young boy she tutors. She returns to the island to compete in a competition that if she wins, she will have to money to adopt. There were so many red flags in all the adult-child relationships in this book, I wouldn't recommend.                                              Read for 12 Recs from 12 Friends ★★★☆☆ Listened to on Libby
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - This is one of my sister's favorite books. As kids we watched Anne Hathaway's movie based on this book. The book is different from the movie, but this Cinderella retelling is possibly more interesting than the original story. When Ella was born, she was cursed to be obedient, when her dad remarries her stepfamily takes advantage of her obedience to make her into a servant. My favorite part of this fairytale romance is that the Prince Charming character, Prince Char is a childhood friend of Ella. It's one of the best books I've read this month.                                                                                                                                          Read for Reb's Recs ★★★★★ Read on Hoopla
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - This book was a hot-mess ensemble of characters. Tova's is a lonely aging woman who is working at marine aquarium as the janitor. Cameron is a thirty-year-old with no direction. Lastly, but my favorite character is a four-year-old Octopus at the aquarium counting down his days in captivity until he dies. Initially when this title released it had a lot of hype, but I found the execution of the book a bit boring. The characters of the book were the plot.                                                                                                                 Read for 12 Recs from 12 Friends ★★★☆☆ Listened to on Libby
• Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano - In the fourth installment of this quirky accidental assassin series, Finlay, Vero and most of Finlay's family heads to Atlantic City. These ladies dodge their loved ones as they search for Vero's kidnapped childhood friend and of course, they stumble onto more dead bodies that they will have to hide, if they want to stay out of trouble. I am absolutely obsessed with these two and their laugh out loud misguided ways.            ★★★★★ Listened to on Libby

Currently Reading

• Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 12 by Sorata Akiduki
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• Grimm: The Icy Touch by John Shirley
• Spider-Man: The Secret of the Sinister Six by Adam-Troy Castro
• Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem by Nick Wyman, Michael X. Martin
• Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline IG Reel
• The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril by Miffie Seideman

Checked Out, To Be Read

• Meet Me at Wonderland by Julia Devillers
• Batman Soul of the Dragon (Blu-Ray)
• The Jewel Thief by Jeanne Mobley
• Four Days a Week: the life-changing solution for reducing employee stress, improving well-being, and working smarter by Juliet B. Schor

In The Reservation Queue

(Image of Jason David Frank--the original Tommy Oliver from Power Rangers--at Phoenix Fan Fusion 2017, from my photo collection)

• The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold by Ally Carter
• Power Rangers: Force of Chaos by Diana Ma

On Hold, To Be Picked Up

None at this time.

Returned Unread

• Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Procreate: How to create on an iPad - I got this book because I was leading a Procreate class in early June and needed to brush up my skills. I used it some, but not enough to consider it read.
• Perfect Girl by Tracy E. Banghart - The library did a "Blind date with a book" display back in February. The wrapping was too cute to pass up, but I wasn't quite as interested by the book's description. IG Reel
• Batgirl: Possession by Jade Aida - I love superhero books, but this one's vibe was a little weird. Plus, I didn't get around to reading much.
• Writing an Identity Not Your Own: a guide for creative writers by Alex Temblador - I love writing books, and this one had an interesting concept, I just didn't find time to read it before it was due.
• The Beginner's Guide to Procreate: Everything you need to know to master digital art by Roché Woodworth - I (also) got this book because I was leading a Procreate class in early June and needed to brush up my skills. I used it some, but not enough to consider it read.

Update from last month's closing blurb, I got my chosen final prize book. I choose a YA romantasy Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout. I read a few Good Reads reviews, most enjoyed the romance, and the reviewers had a crush on the lover interest. However, a few reviews called it a rip-off Vampire Diaries. Since I haven't read Vampire Diaries, I wouldn't know, so I figured, I might as well give it a try.

This month I would like to write more reviews and am looking over some of my old fiction, both original short stories and fanfictions, to see if I have something new that I could publish before next month's Love Your Library. We'll see.

My most recent review is for Under the Surface by Diana Urban. This is the book about being lost in the Paris Catacombs, that I mentioned earlier. You can read it over on IG. This month's story is the first part of an eleven-part superhero story, that I wrote as a teenager during one night of insomnia, although a quick reread makes me wonder if I also proofread and edited it one night 🤣😉. Check out Fairy Troubled for an angsty story about a teenaged fairy superhero.

#LoveYourLibrary

Thank you again, Rebecca for coming up with this blog challenge and I have enjoyed making it a pseudo regular part of my writing life. Check out her blog Bookish Beck

I love making Bookish Friends! Follow me on Instagram Skai_BooksAndBracelets