Review of Nightmares #37 | Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2) by Jim Butcher

Book info:
Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2) by Jim Butcher | 401 pages/10.5 hours | Published January 9th 2001 by Roc | Adult, mystery, paranormal, supernatural

Summary:
Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work--magical or mundane.

But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.

A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses--and the first two don't count...

My thoughts:
Read August 7-August 10, 2017 | 4 stars
Set: October 2000

Little Nightmares #1| The Dresden Files - A Restoration of Faith & Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher

This is going to be the start of my mini-reviews for the short stories between The Dresden Files novels. I'm doing a full, completionist read-through of The Dresden Files and I'm gonna read and review everything I can.

I'm going to do 2 per review, and there are 18 total short stories and a handful of graphic novels. Some are Harry's POV, some are Molly, some are Karrin and I'm really excited to get this going!

Info:

A Restoration of Faith (0.2) found in Side Jobs by Jim Butcher | Published October 26th 2010 by Roc

In the intro to this story, Butcher reveals that this was written 2 years before Storm Front was published and that he wrote it for an assignment at the University of Oklahoma's Professional Writing program. He warns to read it for what it is, "an anxious beginner's first effort, meant to be simple, straightforward fun."

My thoughts:
That was adorable! This story happens well before Storm Front because he isn't a PI yet and he meets Karrin for the first time! AHHH KARRIN! Also, I love seeing Harry with little girls. He's got all these fatherly instincts he doesn't know he has, and he knows just what to do to make them feel better. I think I'm getting old, because dad's are looking hot to me now...

Welcome to the Jungle (0.5) graphic novel by Jim Butcher | Published October 21st 2008 by Del Rey/Dabel Brothers

My thoughts:
This was pretty fun. The story is set after A Restoration of Faith but before Storm Front. His relationship with Karrin is still new and she's very weary of him. It's also revealed in the notes at the end that Harry is supposed to be in his MID TWENTIES during the beginning of the series. I call bull shit. But at least it gives me a timeline to go on and a smexy face to put with James Marster's voice *swooon*

I now have all of the graphic novels my library has in the system on hold for me because I'm going all in on this read-through. This is gonna be exhausting and wrought with sexual tension (thanks Susan).

Coming reviews:
Storm Front | Fool Moon | Grave Peril | Summer Knight | Death Masks | Blood Rites | Dead Beat | Proven Guilty | White Night | Small Favor | Turn Coat | Changes | Ghost Story | Cold Days | Skin Game | (Peace Talks 2018)

Mini-Reviews:
Storm Front 1 & 2 / Fool Moon 1 & 2 | Ghoul, Goblin / B is for Bigfoot | Publicity and Advertising (Vignette) / War Cry | Something Borrowed / I Was a Teenage Bigfoot | Something Borrowed / I Was a Teenage Bigfoot | Down Town / It’s My Birthday Too | Heorot / Day Off | Backup / The Warrior | Last Call / Curses | Wild Card / Even Hand | Love Hurts / Bigfoot on Campus | Aftermath / Bombshells | Cold Case / Jury Duty | Day One / A Fist Full of Warlocks

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Review of Nightmares #36 | Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

Book info:
Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher | 322 pages/8.5 hours | Published April 2000 by Penguin ROC | Urban fantasy, adult, mystery, paranormal, magic

Summary:
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.
My thoughts:
Read July 30-August 2, 2017 | 4 stars

RDB Review #35 | Ring by Koji Suzuki, translated by Robert B. Rohmer & Glynne Walley

Book info: Ring by Koji Sukuki, translated by Robert B. Rohmer & Glynne Walley | 282 pages | Published April 2004 by Vertical | Adult Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Supernatural

Summary:

A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece's inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan tokyo teeming with modern society's fears to a rural Japan--a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic--haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape's mystery before it's too late--for everyone--assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

My thoughts:

Read January 30-February 8, 2017

**Trigger Warning : Rape**

Bring It On, 2017 | Goals and More

2016 was the year of sadness and disasters, honestly. There were celebrity deaths, I lowered my initial reading goal from 100 to 80, I fought with my thyroid and lost, resulting in weird weight gain, and my cholesterol's up. I'm so ready to start fresh. I'm very bad at keeping goals, but I'm a freaking adult and it's time to start acting like it! *game face*

Reading/book goals:

1. Read at least 80 books, if not more. I won't be as overzealous like I was at the beginning of the year where I look at last years 150 and say, "Well, 100 seems good," then fall 12 behind and give up. No changing the goal this time.
2. Post more original content on Tumblr. I'm a victim of constant reblogging, which is great to keep Tumblr moving, but I rarely take my own pictures. 
3. Review weekly, like I intended to do when I opened my blogger as well as extending my review format. I kind of fell out of it in October because I was trying to read as many spooky books as possible and forgot about reviewing them.
4. READ MORE #OWNVOICES. I'm spending more time figuring out if the books I'm reading or want to read are considered #ownvoices. 
5. Read more at home. I do most of my reading at work and do random things when I get home. I rarely ever read at home. I don't know if the atmosphere is wrong or what, but I always find myself drifting off and playing with my phone. 

Books to read:

1. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
2. The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo | Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising
3. The Dark World by S.C. Parris  (love you, bae)
4. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
5. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
6. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
7. Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman
8. Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
9. The Seafarer's Kiss by Julia Ember
10. If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
11. Star-crossed by Barbara Dee
12. Passenger & Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
13. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
14. This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab
15. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
16. Tipping the Velvet & Affinity by Sarah Waters
17. The Chemist by Melissa Meyer
18. Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
19. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
20. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
21. The Devourers by Indra Das
22. The Mermaid Girl: A Story by Erika Swyler
23. Where Am I Now by Mara Wilson
24. The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Careers of Ed and Lorraine Warren by Gerald Brittle
25. Beware the Night (or Deliver Us From Evil) by Ralph Sarchie
26. A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz
27. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
28. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
29. Conversion by Katherine Howe
30. Tattoo Atlas by Tim Forleen
31. The Testing by Koelle Charbonneau
32. The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle
33. The Prestige by Christopher Priest
34. Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
35. Scythe by Neal Shusterman
36. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
37. The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
38. Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
39. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
40. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
41. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
42. The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
43. The Other Alice by Michelle Harrison
44. Alice by Christina Henry
45. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
46. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
47. Security by Gina Wohlsdorf
48. The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
49. I Crashed into a Unicorn by Kasie Jeon
50. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
51. Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
52. The Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
53. ...okay, I'm done with this list, it's getting out of hand...

Books to reread:

1. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
2. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
3. Ice Massacre & Ice Crypt by Tiana Warner
4. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
5. Secret Society by Tom Dolby
6. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
7. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
8. Thirst by Christopher Pike
9. Beowulf
10. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
11. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Personal/mental goals:

1. Move out. Yes, I'm 26 and still live at home. Whatever. But at this point, I'm waiting for the boyfriend to get his money situation together. I gave him a "at the latest" date for September. 
2. Be more comfortable with my body, or do something about it. I'm gonna try to stop my compulsive snacking and eating out for lunch so much and get back into drinking an excess of water. I'm quite lazy, so working out probably won't happen, but I can easily control what I eat and how much.
3. Set a wedding date/year. I've been engaged for a year, and that's all fine and good, but we've been waiting to move out to decide on a date. So hopefully, after September, we'll make a date for sure.
4. Decide when I'm going back to school for my Masters or, at the very least, take my GRE and get my recommendation letters done. I've been graduated for a year and I really do enjoy being out of school, but if I wanna move up, I gotta start school again. *heavy sigh*
5. Start a bullet journal, including a one-sentence-a-day journal.

I hope I can keep myself  on track this year and actually feel accomplished this time next year. I feel like if I make this public, then I have the internet to hold me accountable if I fall behind. 

If anyone notices any books on my list that are bad rep or problematic, please don't hesitate to tell me! I'm also always down for more recs :D

Happy New Year, my dears!

-Allie

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Last Day of 2016 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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1 Unforgettable Read

1. Ice Crypt by Tiana Warner: Honestly, I swear, one day I'll stop gushing about these books, but I've not been so invested in a world since I read Harry Potter or A Great and Terrible Beauty for the first time. I spent days afterward thinking about them and resisting the urge to start it all over again. This series is truly becoming one of my all-time favorites, and if you're tired of hearing me babble on about it, I suggest you read it for yourself. I picked Ice Crypt to talk about rather than Ice Massacre because Warner wrote both sides this time, rather than just one. I get to see the love from both angles and the lengths each character goes through to save their people and the one they love most. Ugh, I love it so much. Watch me pick it up again before June...

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2 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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2 Books I Didn't Intend to Read but Enjoyed All the Same

1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: I've said before that high fantasy is tough for me, but this one really hit the spot. I love dimensional travel and magic and badass female characters. I haven't finished the series yet, but I know I'll enjoy it when I do.
2. Believarexic by J.J. Johnson: I got this from NetGalley earlier in the year and was afraid I wouldn't like it. But it was so raw and real, since it's bio-fiction, but also so heartwarming and uplifting. I would definitely recommend it for those who like Girl, Interrupted or other memoir-type books.

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3 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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3 Characters That Spoke to Me

1. Evie O'Neill, The Diviners (Diviners #1) by Libba Bray: Evie is so sarcastic and flippant sometimes, but she won't let you down when it really matters. Yes, she makes mistakes, but it doesn't take her long to see her faults and make an attempt to fix it. 
2. Mark Watney, The Martian by Andy Weir: How can you not love the last man on Mars who casually jokes about his dire condition. So smart and so funny, he's painfully loveable and I just want him to get home safe!
3. Crescent Moon "Cress" Darnel, Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer: This poor girl was raised in a satellite with no one but the internet and a robotic voice to keep her company. She's everyone's inner fangirl. 

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4 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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4 Anticipated Disappointments

1. You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes: This was really cool for about 33% of the book. I was disturbed and freaked out, then Joe just got more and more annoying. He was whiny and there was way too much inner dialogue (yes, I know it's in second person in his brain, but come on). The action/scary parts weren't as scary as they could have been because they were just glossed over. In the end, I was just underwhelmed.
2. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn: Why did I bother with this? I HATE Gone Girl, what made me think I would like this one? This book is like, "How many plot twists can I fit into 80 pages?" the game. Ugh.
3. A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine: You'd think that the most acclaimed children's horror writer would write an awesome YA horror novel. Well, you'd be wrong. I found the characters to be shallow and uninteresting and the plot tried it's darnedest to be an interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but it just falls flat. 
4. And I Darken by Kiersten White: I really wanted to like this book, knowing that it's LGBTQIA and female villain protagonist and all that jazz, but I felt that nothing really happened. I decided to listen to it, but I felt like it was going no where. I think I got about five hours in and I was just bored. I ended up DNF'ing it.

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5 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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5 Authors I've Never Read, Until Now

It looks like I'm narrowing these down to female authors, because I read a lot of those this year.

1. Maggie Stiefvater: How did I miss her for so long?! I saw Shiver all the time at work and never gave it a second thought. Well, I'm not going back now!
2. Leigh Bardugo: I started with Six of Crows though I actually owned The Grisha Trilogy before I read it. 
3. Dawn Kurtagich: Oh my. This woman has only written 2 books and they've both blown me away. I honestly think she's going to be something like the YA Stephen King. She's phenomenal. Truly.
4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: I've only read her short essay We Should All Be Feminists, but it was so wonderful and insightful. I have her other works on my TBR.
5. Alice Walker: I know The Color Purple is usually high school reading, but we didn't read it then, so I decided to pick it up at the beginning of this year. It was hard to get into the dialect at first, but after a while, it read naturally, and I happen to love written dialects in books, so I wasn't disappointed. 

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6 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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6 of My Favorite Covers, Read or Unread

1. Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (unread, pining after): I don't know what it is about this cover that draws me to it, but I'm not complaining. It's got a warm glow but there's also something sinister about it that I love.
2. We Awaken by Calista Lynne (unread, pining after): BURST OF PURPLE. Love.
3. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (unread, pining after): I love the look of this book and it's sequel. I love found-item books, where it's a compilation of things to tell a story. The naked cover is so cool to, because it's like some sort of paper that has a bunch of redactions on it.
4. Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner (read, owned): The mermaid. The blood. The color. It looks so much cooler in person.
5. The Merciless by Danielle Vega (read, owned): This is the most intimidating thing I've ever laid eyes on. It's so pink and so... *shudders*
6. Three Dark Crowns (4 variations) by Kendare Blake (unread, pining after): How can you not love a book that has FOUR COVERS released (nearly) at the same time. It's like choose your own adventure in a book cover!

Okay, yes, it's clearly more than six, but it's only six titles. That counts, right?

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