Hello! New month, new list of books! Here are the upcoming reviews for this month, (November of 2021).
Note: I apologize ahead of time… I picked up Ice Planet Barbarians on a whim because it’s super popular on TikTok and various book circles right now… and I got sucked into a rabbit hole. I may have read the entire series, and you’re going to see it popping up a lot on this blog for the next couple of months. My deepest apologies – there are 22 books. I’m skipping the novellas…but still. It’s a lot. I know it’s a lot. Just… bear with me for a bit, I’m too invested to stop now.
Luna by Rae Else
Review Date: 11/01/2021
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
When Romulus killed Remus, the wolf clans swore enmity to one another ever after.
Seventeen-year-old Jess has survived an upbringing in care. Diagnosed with rage blackouts, people look at her with pity and fear. The solution? Brutal workouts, Art—oh—and staying the hell away from others. Easily done in backwater Maine.
Yet one night, she wakes to find herself by a lake, her clothes covered in blood, with no memory of what happened. Soon the water is aflame and a portal opens. Transported to the Triodia Penitentiary, she discovers she’s a shifter, a type of para. She’s accused of murder and locked up.
Desperate to find a way out, she turns to her fellow inmates for help. Yet as they mount an escape, the enemies circling her increase. Will Jess survive unlocking the dangerous Heights and Depths of the para world and those within herself?
The Homesteading Encyclopedia by Kelly Reed
Review Date: 11/03/2021
Genre: Non-Fiction
In The Homesteading Encyclopedia, you will discover:
A diverse range of different ways to live your homesteading dream, even if you can’t afford moving to the country
The best US states to live in when homesteading or going off-the-grid
A complete guide to utility options for homesteaders, including renewable energy and water sources
Exactly how you can avoid making expensive beginner’s mistakes when planning your homesteading paradise
Different ways to become completely food independent — even if you don’t own a lot of garden space
How to deal with medical emergencies when you live in an isolated area
Types of homestead properties (and how to choose the right one for yourself)
How to become a homesteader on a small budget
And much more.
No matter your motivation, financial situation, or living arrangements, homesteading is a great option for anyone who wants to gain any level of independence — whether that’s a small taste or complete control of your lifestyle.
Even if you live in a city apartment, this book will spark your imagination, and show you how to make the most of what you have to become thoroughly self-sufficient.
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass by Anna Priemaza
Review Date: 11/08/2021
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Vera has a nagging feeling that she’s forgetting something. Not her keys or her homework—something bigger. Or someone. When she discovers her best friend Riven is experiencing the same strange feeling, they set out on a mission to uncover what’s going on. Everyone in Vera’s world has a special ability—a little bit of magic that helps them through the day. Perhaps someone’s ability is interfering with their memory? Or is something altering their very reality? Vera and Riven intend to fix it and get back whatever or whomever they’ve lost. But how do you find the truth when you can’t even remember what you’re looking for in the first place?
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass is a cleverly constructed, heartbreaking, and compelling contemporary YA novel—with a slight fantasy twist—about memory, love, grief, and the invisible bonds that tie us to each other.
Vial of Tears by Cristin Bishara
Review Date: 11/10/2021
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old sisters Samira and Rima aren’t exactly living the dream. Instead, they live with their maddeningly unreliable mother in a rundown trailer in Michigan. Dad’s dead, money’s tight, and Mom disappears for days at a time. So when Sam’s grandfather wills her the family valuables–a cache of Lebanese antiquities–she’s desperate enough to try pawning them before Mom can.
But she shouldn’t. Because one is cursed, forbidden, the burial coin of a forgotten god. Disturbing it condemns her and Rima to the Phoenician underworld, a place of wicked cities, burning cedar forests, poisoned feasts of milk and lemons, and an endless, windless ocean.
Nothing is what it seems. No one is who they say. And down here, the night never ends.
To get home–and keep her sister safe–Sam will have to outwit beautiful shapeshifters, pose as a royal bride, sail the darkest sea… and maybe kill the god of death himself.
I
nto The Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough
Review Date: 11/15/2021
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
There’s no such thing as once upon a time.
In a far away land, populated by were beasts and surrounded by a powerful forest, lies a kingdom about to be sent into chaos. On his deathbed, King Tyran divides his land, leaving half to each of his two children-so they’ll rule together. However, his son, Albrecht, is not satisfied with half a kingdom. And even though his sister, Ursula, is the first born, he decides that as a girl and were bear, she is unfit to rule. So he invades her land, slaughtering her people and most of the were beasts, and claims it for himself. As King Albrecht builds his iron rule and an army of beasts to defend his reign, Ursula is gathering the survivors and making plans to take back the kingdom. Not just her half-the whole thing. Because Albrecht should have never been allowed to sit on the throne, and Ursula is going to take his crown. And if he’s not careful, he might not get to keep his head either.
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Review Date: 11/17/2021
Genre: Paranormal, Thriller
When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.
Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she’s initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers–except she’s still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she’ll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn’t realize just how much the truth will change her.
Cackle by Rachel Harrison
Review Date: 11/22/2021
Genre: Paranormal, Horror
All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.
Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
Review Date: 11/24/2021
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
You’d think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you’d be wrong. Because now the aliens are having ship trouble, and they’ve left their cargo of human women–including me–on an ice planet.
We’re not equipped for life in this desolate winter wasteland. Since I’m the unofficial leader, I head out into the snow to look for help.
I find help all right. A big blue horned alien introduces himself in a rather . . . startling way. Vektal says that I’m his mate, his chosen female–and that the reason his chest is purring is because of my presence. He’ll help me and my people survive, but this poses a new problem.
If Vektal helps us survive, I’m not sure he’s going to want to let me go.
Raising Chickens For Beginners by O. Banks
Review Date: 11/29/2021
Genre: Non-Fiction
Written with a complete beginner in mind, this easy-to-understand guide will give you the confidence you need to expertly navigate this amazing and unimaginably rewarding world.
Accompanying you every step of the way, Otis Banks will help you discover the joys of raising chickens and help you go from an anxious beginner to a seasoned pro, before you even realize it.
Title: The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass
Author Unpublished 