Stacking The Shelves (2019) #16: Ollie's Haul

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page! Stacking The Shelves now has a new host and check out that new image!!

Hi my loves, I have been on a bit of a buying spree, and I went to a few stores I haven't been to in at least a year to see what they had. I had a budget of $50 to spend between the two so here are the things I got at the first stop which is Ollies:

Dante's Inferno by Canterbury Classics $2.99. This is a gorgeous leatherbound edition.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley Doyle, snagged this because it's a magical realism book and I kind of miss that. I used to have a Sarah Addison Allen book a year but there hasn't been one in the last two years. I'm hoping this is good.  $1.99

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C Anderson I remember this being a huge hit when it first came out and I never got around to it and now I'm excited to get right into it.  $1.99

Rebound by Kwame Alexander This is another book I have wanted to read for a while, this author is on my list for a while. $2.99

Then I went to the local dollar tree to snag a few things and saw this one I wanted to grab this.

Like it Never Happened by Emily Adrian

So far I've spent $11.98 our of my budget. I'm splitting this because it got so huge, check next week to see what I snagged at the other discount store. What'd you get in your haul this week?? Share in the comments down below and I'll see you next week.

Happy Reading & Haulin' my loves

Can't Wait Wednesdays (8) Blood Awakens by Jessica Willis #NetGalley #bloodawakens

Originally hosted by: Jill over at Breaking The Spines.  However, the Breaking The Spines blog is no longer hosting the prompt, there is a new one called Can't Wait Wednesdays hosted by Wishful Endings. Same premise of sharing books we can't wait to get our hands on. This is a weekly book lust prompt, asking for us to share our absolute can't wait to get our hands on a copy books. Swing on over to find out how to participate and to see what others are sharing. 

Young Adult/New Adult

Blood Awakens ( The Awakened Book 1) by Jessica Willis 

People called Sean a blood guide, though he never fully understood why. As far as he knew, he could hear heartbeats and heal people. It wasn’t until he walked in on his brother’s brutal murder that he learned of the darker nature of his power: blood speaks to him, and he to it. With a simple song, he can command it to do whatever he wants, and in that moment, he showed his brother’s murderers no mercy. Now Sean must fight to keep his inner demons in check and his path to redemption begins with the establishment of sanctuary for people like him, people with powers, the Awakened.

Graciela is one of many who did not Awaken, but she’s watched as her brother’s power as an empath—the ability to sense other’s emotions—has brought him to the brink of death. Together, they set across Central America in search of a cure, or at the very least, safety. What they find is a sanctuary called Hope, the same one Sean governs.

But they soon discover that even from within the compounds of the sanctuary, no one is safe. Not when there are people in the world with unimaginable power and insatiable bloodlust.

WARNING: Due to the nature of some of the powers and abilities in this book, this story does contain graphic descriptions of blood and some violence.

Due Date: June 26th, 2019

Print: Ebook

Pages: 601

Publisher: Kindle Published
Status: I received a copy from NetGalley and will be reading this and sharing my opinion soon.
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Why I'm Excited:

This is a sci fi new adult and it sounds awesome. I'm just looking at that page count and wondering what is happening in there if it's also a series. 

What's on your book lust list?? Share in the comments down below!!

Happy Lusting

Book #Review: Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

Book Title: Anyone But You
Author:  Jennifer Crusie |Website| Twitter| Facebook| 

Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Romance, Romantic Comedy
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Format: Mass Market, ebook

Cost: $1.99

Pages: 283

How I got it: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Thriftbooks
Publication Date: November 21, 1996
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Synopsis:

For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom--from the ex-husband, freedom from their stuffy suburban home, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed--a puppy. A bouncy, adorable puppy. Instead she gets...Fred.

Overweight, middle-aged, a bit smelly and obviously depressed, Fred is light-years from perky. But he does manage to put Nina in the path of Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger-by-a-decade neighbor.

Alex seems perfect--he's a sexy, seemingly sane, surprisingly single E.R. doctor--but the age gap convinces Nina that anyone but Alex would be better relationship material. But with every silver-haired stiff she dates, the more she suspects it's the young, dog-loving doc she wants to sit and stay!

This is the story of Nina who is recently divorced, in her 40s and is trying to restart her life.  She's trying to get all the things she'd been denied in her marriage to a successful lawyer. She starts by filing for divorce, moving into an apartment in a building with character, unique neighbors and getting a puppy. Only she doesn't get the puppy of her dreams, she gets instead Fred.  Fred's got the most depressing face ever but he like her wasn't expecting much love from the world.

I loved that she was learning to find herself, however, her self-esteem was in the toilet. She was just trying to exist instead of embracing the new change in her life and that was dragging her back from a great opportunity. She was able to see what being stagnant was doing to her boss and her boss's business but didn't see how much of herself was reflected there As we were reading I laughed at some of her antics and her moods because #same. I loved that as we went along it became clear this was shaping up to be an older woman/younger man romance. I loved how the dog was the reason they were introduced and that was the cutest meet-cute.

At times it became clear this was a little dated especially the parts of the discussion about VCR, but Netflix and chill is as old as time because watching VCR and TMC and hanging out was how these two began their friendship.  Both struggling to find a way into more but being held back by the assumptions and beliefs that Nina had. She's just turned 40 and she's not confident in herself, her body and believes at first that Alex is just a shiftless 25 year old and that scares her that she's attracted to him. She doesn't believe she can measure up to women in his age group but Alex sees her as a beautiful woman and considers her sexy but she's not willing to see herself as he sees her.  Alex is a successful man but his family's inability to respect his field of expertise and Nina's lack of respect because of his age put him a unique place of wanting her but being afraid to go for what he wants because he doesn't want to lose what they have.

I loved how she's all over the place because she's never had a choice that's hers, her mother is a strong influence and without even knowing it, Nina was still letting her mother's ideas shape her everyday decisions. She's either her mother's or her ex-husband's choices and now she's trying to find her own voice and ideas so she tends to go back and forth between what she's known and what she's learning to be true.  It's a very real and relatable struggle.  It at times got boring though because she kept repeating the same things over and over again DESPITE all the evidence to the contrary. How much more signs did she need?? Nina kept discounting what Alex said or did because she kept writing him off based on his age, despite the fact that he was a successful Dr.

I loved the relationship between Alex and his brother Max. I cracked up often with their conversations because I swear Alex waited until Max was drinking to drop salient questions and comments on him. Almost like he was trying to kill him by choking. Hilarious. Alex's family life is complicated and this is the greatest source of stress for him, but it's also a motivating factor for him to follow his dream career path.

I loved how the subplot of her best friend learning to come to terms with her past is a great catalyst for the changes Nina needs to make and learn to accept. Their main problem becomes of course them, Nian's inability to take Alex seriously based on his age and his fears that because she doesn't take him seriously he won't be able to hold her to him.  Seriously I wanted to whisper that Nina needed a few hours of therapy and so did Alex's family who kept the pressure on him to conform even though it didn't work for them.

I loved how their friends were able to see what they couldn't and totally made sure to let them know. Especially Norah, because talk about being a kick-butt woman.  I loved how the ending came together because no one is perfect but we can learn to be happy alone and we can also learn to be happy together.  They both had to figure out how to do that without losing themselves to the fears and expectations of others.

I still loved how it all came together, the changes their relationship brought to their friends and the improvements they made in their lives. I loved how they were together. It was a great romance with lots of good humor and aged surprisingly well.

 ★★★★☆

Do you have any good rom-com to share?? Leave them in the comments and of course; 
Happy Reading my loves, 

Stacking The Shelves (2019) #15: Library Book Sale

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page! Stacking The Shelves now has a new host and check out that new image!!

Hi My loves, I went to another town library book sale. I'm going to say I'll probably never going to go there again, even though they have the best collection of African American books. Because Goddess above I have never paid this much money for this small amount of books EVER.

A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry I've seen the play but have never read the source material.

In An Instant (Book 1) by Kayla Perrin

Bargain of the Heart by Candice Poarch

Christmas in Transylvania Sandra Hill . I'm trying to grow my Christmas bookshelf. I snagged this one.

Not Even If You Begged by Francis Ray

Delilah's Daughters by Angela Benson

Family Pictures by Jane Green. I grabbed this one because I'm still addicted to grabbing these books. I loved Jane back in the day but I have a few and I haven't read them yet. 

Turned Out by Angel M  Hunter

Cheesecake & Teardrops by Faye Thompson

Possessing The Secret of Joy by Alice Walker

Love by Toni Morrison, because Toni Morrison. Just Duh!

Mommy's Angel by Miasha

Changing Faces by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Sistergirls.com by Zane (Anthology)

Then I grabbed several books by Mary B Morrison: Apparently, a few of them are books deep into several series and then I managed to grab one of the series starters, so yep let's go.

Sweeter Than Honey

Unconditionally Single 

Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This

Maneater

When Somebody Loves You Back 

Due to some being classics and almost all of them were hardcover it added up fast. I spent $31. F*ck me that hurt, I mean I know what it's benefitting but I'm cheap and I hate spending that much mone. Normally if I spend that much money I'm coming home with like 60 books. I however only came home with 20 books. UGH!! It's FINE, IT's all FINE.  What'd you get in your haul this week?? Share in the comments down below and I'll see you next week.

Happy Reading & Haulin' my loves

July 2019 To Be Read

Welcome my loves it's July 2019. This month's theme is going to be Jennifer July, Originally the Jennifer challenge was about reading Jennifer L Armentrout's books from my shelves, this year I want to read all the Jennifer authors I have on the shelves.  I'm also pulling any authors with "jen" in their names, like Jenna/Jenn and such.

My goal this year is 150  books, if I break that down it comes out to 13 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

Read So Far This Year: 79

TBR Pile 150

TBR Balance: 71
Monthly Goal: 13

June Left Over:

1. With The Fire On High Elizabeth Acevado
2. This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas
3. Long Way Home Katie McGarry
4. On The Come Up Angie Thomas
5. The Darkest Part of the Forest Holly Black
6. Valiant Holly Black

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• Brenda Jackson 
• Beverly Jenkins

Finish Series Challenge:

• Sylvia Day 

Top 19  List

• Jan Read: Shifting (haven't finished yet)
• April Read:
• May Read: 
• June: Second Time Sweeter Beverly Jenkins

Black Out Challenge:

• .
• .

Erotica Book Selection: 

• 
  

Book Club Book: (This month I'm skipping this one since it's not a title I own, however, I'm listing it so I know what the book was for this month at the end of the year).

• Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

Jennifer In July Reading List:

Jennifer Cruise

1. Anyone but you 
2. Hot Toy (ARC)
3. Agnes and the hitman
4. Faking it

Jennifer Probst

1. Searching for Perfect
2. Searching for Beautiful
3. Searching for always
4. Searching for disaster
5. Searching for Someday
6. All or nothing at all
7. The marriage bargain
8. Everywhere & Everyway
9. All the Way
10. The marriage trap

Jennifer Donnelly

1. Deep Blue
2. Rogue Wave
3. These Shallow Graves

JLA

1. Lux Beginnings
2. Origin
3. The Return
4. White Hot Kiss
5. Stone Cold Touch

Jennifer Brown

1. Thousand Words

Jenn Murgio

1. Forest of Whispers

Jen Greene

1. Where is he now
2. Blame it on Paris

Jennifer Morey

1. A Rancher's dangerous affair

Jennifer E Smith

1. The Statistical Probability of love at first sight

Jennifer Stevenson

1. The Velvet Chair

Jen Bernand

1. The fireman who loved me
2. Hot for fireman

Jenny B Jones

1. Save The Date

Jenn Lynn Barnes

1. Trial by Fire
2. Raised by Wolves

Jenna Black

1. Glimmerglass

Jenn Colonita

1. VIP I'm with the band

This gives me a whole variety of books I can read from so I won't be bored. What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading