June 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up

Hola Bookworms! It’s finally Friday and I’m very much looking forward to unplugging this weekend. I took today off from work (this post was scheduled) to get away for a bit since we’ll be experiencing a heat wave in New York City. I’ve got two cute new bathing suits I’m pretty stoked to try out, a new found love for Roscato sweet red wine & Playa Bowls (pictured below). Currently I’m reading Forest Of Souls (Shamanborn #1) by Lori M. Lee (Really enjoying this slower paced world building but then again that’s my thang haha!) and obsessing over John Legend’s new album Bigger Love. July is already proving to be a quality reading month with some 5 star reads. In the month of June I threw myself into reading even more diverse black voices & spent less time blogging. I’m just now getting caught up with reviews but figured I should probably wrap up the month seeing as we’re already in mid-July. Drop some love down below, how are you spending your weekend? reading? watching? writing?

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta – ✨4.5 STARS✨ I still stand by my original thoughts on this book, it is one of the MOST raw coming of age stories I’ve ever read. Written in verse, this is the story of Michael who is Jamaican and Greek living in London being raised by his mother. His mother is Greek, a single parent who is very supportive and loving to both Michael and his sister. Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood & attending a school with mostly white children, Michael faces many challenges being a queer black boy. We follow his journey to finding himself and the freedom he obtains on that journey. I listened to the audiobook on Libro.fm & personally I loved getting the story narrated by the author. I listened in one sitting! ❤

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon – ✨3 STARS✨After hearing many of my friends in the Book community express their thoughts, I adjusted my expectations on this one. I already had a Book of the Month copy as well as the audiobook from Libro.fm. I loved the friendship aspects of this story where we follow our MC as she meets two other women that happen to be dating the same man she is. An unlikely confrontation leads to a friendship which I enjoyed seeing develop. What I didn’t love so much was the romance seeing as it has the whole undercover angle & that took away from any chemistry I may have felt between the two love interests. I’d still be interested in reading possibly a story arc following the other friends *fingers crossed*

The City Of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty -✨4 STARS✨ (My Review) LOVED the world building & plot! captivating and truly memorable however I didn’t fall in love or grow attached to any of the characters. Sure I had one that stood out but that was iffy too. Character growth is on the page & I do have high hopes for the sequel being a 5 star read.

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick – ✨5 STARS✨ (My Review) YA Thrillers! people sleep on them but truly they are something to explore! Kit Frick held me from the very first page & I could only imagine what the experience would’ve been like if I had listened to this in audiobook format since it does have a podcast feel. LOVED the unreliable narrator & the interviews throughout the book with neighbors & friends. Lastly, I’ll say that I did NOT see that ending coming & was left with my jaw hanging smh.

Abbott – ✨4 STARS✨My only wish is that this had more issues but I can’t find any info online as to whether there will be. We follow a Journalist in Detroit who is investigating a series of murders that seem to have a paranormal twist. I was hella intrigued by our MC who is a black bi-sexual divorced woman with a bit of a brooding side she settles into each night with a glass of whiskey.

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – ✨5 STARS✨ (My Review) My BEST read of the month! One that I will not stop recommending! I listened to the author narrate his own essays in this audiobook via Libro.fm & was absolutely invested start to finish. I said in my review that it felt like I was at the kitchen table with George hearing stories of his youth as if he were a friend. This is how I’ll aways remember my time with this book. The importance of reading stories that feature intersectionality is something I’ll always stress. This is the story of George M. Johnson a young queer black man growing up in America.

June was a e-book heavy month for me & as I’m still donating books from my shelves I didn’t purchase any physical books. I can tell you now that this is not the case for July smh but at least I have plenty of shelf space to house my new babies. The books down below were all Kindle deals mostly $1.99 at most $3.99, I went click happy because there were so many great titles on sale so here goes…

For many years I’ve heard Guy Ritchie get much acclaim as a director but for me personally it was seeing this movie that really caught my interest. The minute I saw the cast of characters…Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant I KNEW I had to watch! Initially it was set to be a date night at the movies but Rona put a stop to that & I waited for it to be made available on Fandango Now. We follow McConaughey who is an American expat trying to sell his very profitable Marijuana empire in London. This of course captures the attention of many of his enemies & triggers many attempts to steal his business before he can sell. TONS of action, schemes, and yea even a few laugh out loud moments. Overall a good time!

June was an intense month in the world, i was proud to see many of my bookish friends in the community amplify black voices all throughout. The efforts to bring diverse stories to our shelves continues. i’ve always read diversely with an emphasis on intersectionality but i will be amping that up further on this blog.happy reading <3’s!

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June Wrap-Up + Book Haul…A Little Bit Of This & A Little Bit Of That ;)

Hello Bookworms! When this goes live I’ll be counting down the last few hours in the office before I can do my FriYAy Dance 🤗 it’s been a long week & I am thrilled to finally start the weekend *huge sigh of relief* I’m actually participating in the #Smuthathon Readathon hosted by the lovely GingerReadsLainey & RileyMarie over on Booktube & so far it has been a awesome new experience 🙌🏼 Those of you lovely readers that have been around this blog for a while now know that I primarily read YA Fantasy/Fantasy however, sometimes a gal needs a pallette cleanser 😂 I am finding enjoyment in the books that I’m reading & so you’ll see the occasional New Adult, Rom-Com, or smutty read review on Lair Of Books. If this happens to be your wheel house, please leave me some recommendations in the comments down below 💜 For those who love Fantasy, fear not! I have a ton of titles I’ll be reading & reviewing throughout the rest of the year 😉 But 1st, let’s Wrap-up June…

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff (Unique AF! Kristoff really built a world from scratch including the slang, never read anything like this)✨4.5 STARS ✨

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (Audiobook, not exactly what I was expecting–RTC)

The Queen Of Crows (The Armored Saint #2) by Myke Cole (Really hoped this would’ve gone a different way but still hoping for a strong follow-up–RTC)

Whisper Of The Tide (Song of the Current #2) by Sarah Tolcser (Favorite read of the month! EPIC & satisfying end to this duology)✨5 STARS ✨

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (a taste of Winter to to cool off in this summer heat, spell-binding!) ✨4.5 STARS ✨

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JUNE FAIRYLOOT

Grace & Fury by Tracy Banghart (RTC Grace & Fury was a 3.5 star read for me; favorite item in this box is costume mask necklace. Would’ve LOVED the journal if it was for a full year, instead it covers July-December 2018)

JUNE BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (Recently found out that this is a series and after reading & listening to so many rave reviews, this is exciting news!!! really looking forward to this read)

Season 2 binge of Luke Cage was even better than expected! This is a Netflix show I really enjoy watching with the hubby for so many reasons! Ok, for me it’s all about the Wutang soundtracks Luke listens to while he kicks a** 🙌🏼😂🙌🏼 Luke is so old school & the show reflects that. The first season really made me fall in love with this show but season 2 solidified that love 💓 Luke is going through a transformation of sorts & by the very end he isn’t the same man we’ve come to love and trust. Also, we get introduced to a new character who challenges Luke & I surprisingly ended up enjoying. Why of why did it have to end? season 3 where are you?

June was one of those months that had me feeling off kilter which was mostly due to Bookcon at the very beginning of the month. I didn’t expect to read much of anything but ended up happy with the 5 books that I did finish. Surprisingly, I didn’t watch any movies. July however is already off to an AMAZING start so stay tuned for a more exciting Wrap-up/Book Haul for this month 😉

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June Wrap-Up

Hello Readers! another month has passed & with it comes my typically-late-thus-making-it-right-on-time? Wrap Up smh haha! this time around I excluded my haul simply because Bookcon happened & in one day I managed to haul way too many books & that’s not including my regular books bought for the month. Also, I posted my Bookcon haul last year & that was all fine and well because I was new in the blogosphere & was very excited to share my 1st bookish event. Whelp, 1 year later I was still very excited to attend Bookcon but this time around I’d like to think I was a bit more wiser & aware of all the drama surrounding ARCS. Not to mention that book hauls from these types of conventions tend to generate negative attention & I’m not here for that. So I decided to skip the haul & just speak about the event itself…

The best part of the event was seeing my twin aka bff Gretchen who most of you know has a blog called ChicNerdReads (pictured below in the glasses next to me). My hubby also accompanied us which is always fun since he’s also a reader & I’m his source for new book recommendations. The event seemed to have been dominated by Penguin with giveaways every hour on the hour as well as author signings. This made for extremely long lines, stampedes, and overall madness tbh…

I am honestly surprised to have acquired the ARCS that I did but it wasn’t easy & took a bit of prioritizing. Gretchen & I pre-gamed for this event mapping out which books we were aiming for & I do believe this actually helped as much as we thought otherwise during the event. Overall, the event & it’s lack of organization was terrible for our anxiety. The positive however is that we got to spend the whole weekend surrounded by BOOKS & talking about BOOKS and that’s always a fun time no matter what. Also! we met another Puerto-Rican Bookworm who had flown in for the event. She told us about getting caught in the stampede for Warcross on Saturday & how after hours of standing in line she walked away w/out the ARC. My hubby gave up his ARC to Warcross which we had at home. We shipped it to PR & when it arrived she sent me a very happy text which made my week 🙂

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali ★★★★★ (5 Stars)

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser ★★★★ (4 Stars)

Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios ★★★★ (4 Stars)

Bearly a Lady (Novella) by Cassandra Khaw ★★★★1/2 (4.5 Stars)

Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue ★★★★★ 5 Stars

Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) *Conclusion to duology w/spoilers for This Savage Song ★★★★★ 5 Stars

Although for the month of June I only read YA, each book was so different from each other that it honestly felt like I read diversely. I read some books with hard topics like Saints and Misfits and Bad Romance which led me to discovering two amazing authors. I had a ton of fun reading The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue and Bearly a Lady (novella) with many laughs. Started a new Diverse Fantasy with Song of the Current & can’t wait to read the sequel to this du-ology. I also read the conclusion to monsters of Verity…Our Dark Duet broke me yet it is the most satisfying conclusion I’ve ever read. Yea, I was a bit all over the place but my reading reflected my life as a whole in June haha!

My most highly anticipated flick for 2017 DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Wonder Woman had me engaged from the opening scene. I have always been fascinated by the Amazons & Wonder Woman has always been a icon for me…getting her back story on the big screen felt like the best earliest Christmas gift I never thought to ask for LOL! little Diana was lively & eager to learn the ways of the Amazons & seeing her natural born instincts play out gave her a new sparkle in my eyes. My only regret is not reviewing this movie on the blog when my feels were fresh haha. I loved the entire cast, humor, fight scenes, and plot as a whole! my interest in The Justice League sky rocketed after leaving the theater googling for any bit of early news hinting at a sequel to Wonder Woman. For those who didn’t think Wonder Woman deserved her own solo debut…Gal Gadot sure showed you *5 Stars* 😉

My second date night with the hubby (we got lucky in June with sitting) was great & all but Transformers The Last Night was lackluster. I was really rooting for this one more for the hubby’s enjoyment than mine really. I just went to see Markie Mark & Bumble Bee but the irony in that I tell ya smh! So, as a lover of all Mark Whalberg’s movies I can go ahead and say this…In my opinion, he should’ve never accepted the lead role no matter how badly he wanted to realize his childhood dream of playing with life sized Transformers #jussayin. Love me some Markie Mark but that role really needs to go to another younger guy (not shia Labeouf, that ship has sailed). I’m hoping that the history they introduced means we are due a new main character *fingers crossed* I found myself bored & ended up rating this movie *3.5 stars* 😦

Happy reading in July Bookworms!!! Hope you all had a wonderful June month & are enjoying your summer reads. Read or watched any of these? drop a comment down below <3’s!

Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Published by: HarperTeen

Date of Publication: June 7th 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Comedy

Pages: 491

Format: Physical Book (My Owlcrate subscription)

Rating:★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

My Lady Jane was my 1st Owlcrate box & it was part of their June Royalty theme. I was a bit skeptical on MLJ, it’s not typically the type of book I’d pick up on my own. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book to be such a fun ride filled with tons of laugh out loud moments while I rode the NYC subway to/from work these past couple of days. Coming in at a hefty 491 pages, MLJ doesn’t take itself seriously at all and often times the narrators (The Janies) will interrupt to let you know just that lol.

The Characters

Lady Jane Grey, Gilford Dudley (G), King Edward,Gracie, Bess, and Pet —->My favorites however, the cast is much larger & filled with colorful characters. I loved the presence of strong female characters & how endearing they were (especially G & Edward). Lady Jane Grey has to be my ALL time favorite simply because she’s a fellow bookworm (she’s just as obsessed as I am lol). She also is very witty & sarcastic & last but NOT least a Femisnist (Loved this!).

“The worst part about her new chambers was that all these wardrobes and vanities and drapes meant there was no space–none at all–for a bookcase.Who on earth could feel comfortable enough to sleep in a room with no books?”-Lady Jane Grey

Gilford & Edward- I think I laughed the most with these two, it’s rare that I enjoy male characters like I did these two. There was great chemistry between all of the characters & the witty banter was flawless.

Plot

The story begins with a very sick & dying King Edward (age 16) who is being pushed to choose a successor to the throne since he has no heirs. Jane & Edward are used as pawns and a marriage between the Dukes son and Jane is quickly arranged. There is plenty of plotting & scheming from those who have power to gain, which leads to the placement of Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Lady Jane Grey finds herself married (something she fortuitously avoided in previous engagements) to Gilford Dudley. Both Jane & Gilford are unhappy to have been pushed into marriage but a huge secret overshadows it all. I won’t give more detail than this because of spoilers but I enjoyed all of the plot twists & the magical element.

I LOVED not knowing which author wrote which parts, it all seemed to come from one person. Maybe this is why the characters have such great chemistry? It must have been tons of fun for these authors writing My Lady Jane because at least I felt like it was a great time from start to finish. I’m going to miss these characters & our furry friends. I hope to see these authors collaborate again, that is something I will definitely be looking out for 😉

June 2016 Wrap-Up

Let me start off by saying, JUNE was EPIC!!!! I only read 4 books (finishing the 4th one tonight) this month because LIFE! It was a beautiful month filled with tons of memories that I will cherish til i’m gray & old. I married the love of my life who also happens to be my book soul mate & our little girl graduated from Pre-K as Valedictorian & Killed her speech! *Smiles*. I’m surprised to have even read these 4 books so lets get into them…

1. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes ★★★★★

I changed my rating of this book twice until I realized that if a book can move me to feel such strong emotions about a controversial topic such as Euthanasia, then that means it deserves my 5 stars. The characters in this book will stay with me for a very long time, I still have not watched the movie because I wanted to give it some time but it will def be soon (book to movie reaction post to follow).

My Review: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

2. Becoming Rain by K.A. Tucker (Burying Water #2) ★★★★★

An edge of your seat, heart pounding, sexy New Adult novel that I DEVOURED! so far I have loved all of K.A. Tucker’s characters, they all are 50 shades of complex. Fast paced & filled with plot twists, Becoming Rain was better than it’s predecessor Burying Water. Each one of the books in this series follows a female lead and eventually her love interest with occasional guest appearances by some of the other characters from previous books. I enjoy seeing some of my favorites pop up in the next book.

My Review: Becoming Rain by K.A. Tucker

3. A Darker Shade Of Magic by V.E. Schwab ★★★★ (4.5 stars)

My 1st V.E. Schwab book did not disappoint. The writing was on point & I truly felt immersed into all of the London’s with the exception of Black London (not yet explored). This was a fast paced read, full of action, and magic however not much character development. One thing I found myself enjoying was the focus that was given to the plot/world building & that there was no love story. Although I do enjoy my ships, I didn’t feel the need to wonder who would be paired with who & instead enjoyed the magic and adventure V.E. Schwab takes you on. My guess is that book 2 will show more character development because of how the final chapters played out in ADSOM. My copy of A Gathering Of Shadows arrived a few days ago & i’m thinking that I will hold off on reading it because A Conjuring Of Light #3 doesn’t get released until February 2017.

My Review:A Darker Shade Of Magic (Shades Of Magic #1)

4. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows ★★★★★

My 1st Owlcrate box was this month’s June Royalty box & it was EVERYTHING & MORE! no regrets here. I switched over to Owlcrate from another subscription box & I loved every single item I received. I was a bit skeptical on whether I would enjoy My Lady Jane because it’s being compared to The Princess Bride & Monty Python, both of which I’ve heard about, but never read/watched. Well, I have NEVER laughed this much reading any book EVER! this book doesn’t take itself seriously at all, in fact it does the complete opposite. Light & silly, My Lady Jane was exactly what I needed for the start of Summer. I’ve got about 70 pages to go tonight & will update this post with a star rating in the morning but it’s looking like a hands down 5 STARS! (Review to come)

***UPDATE*** Finished My Lady Jane today, Review in the link below 🙂

My review: My Lady Jane By Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows