teatimelit

Review + Blog Tour: Woods of Silver and Light by Victoria McCombs

Ronin’s son is dead, and Maid Marion is gone. But a sorceress banished to the Woods can bring his son back if he and his Silver Raiders are willing to do something for her first. She finds there’s nothing Ronin Hood won’t do for his son…

Anika finds herself drawn to the mystery of the Woods and the thieves who live within, but the cost of associating with the Silver Raiders becomes higher than she’s willing to pay. The darkness of the Woods seeps into the Raider’s hearts, blurring the lines between hero and villain, until Anika’s fight for freedom turns into a fight to survive the magic of the trees that should have never been awoken.

This isn’t the tale of Robin Hood you remember.

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Let’s Talk: Book Series I Haven’t Finished (and Probably Won’t)

I find myself worried to write this post, because I know that, inevitably, it’s going to offend someone. But that’s such a lovely thing about reading, isn’t it? Your favourite book might not be someone else’s and that’s ok! But, I will preface this by saying that I’m not hating on these books – they just weren’t for me, and I could use my time better by reading books I will actually enjoy. But anyway, without further ado, let’s get into the list.

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Review: A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

Love & Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love—and herself—in a small English town.

For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

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Review: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa­­–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.

But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

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Review: Home Work: A Memoir of my Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews shares reflections on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.

In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage. 
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films–Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry — from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Cowritten with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews’s trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring

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Let’s Talk: Bookish Consumerism and the Library System

As a blogger and instagrammer, it’s kind of expected to have lots of books. You need books to make the content needed for those platforms, and the common way in doing that is spending money on books. I’ve recently been thinking about how much I spend as a consumer on books, and how, realistically, it’s not financially viable all the time. 

I’ve recently joined the library nearest to my work, making it the third library I have access to in person and the fourth library I have access to digitally, and I love it. The library is a safe, welcoming space for everyone, and it’s time we give it the hype and attention it deserves.

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Let’s Talk: DNF’ing Books

DNF or did not finish, is a widely debated topic in the book community. Some are for it, some are against it. I can understand the division, especially if you have been asked by a publisher to review a book. You’ve been asked to do a task, so you can’t just not read it, right? Well, I’m of the belief that you should be able to have the option of not finishing. Let’s discuss why.

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Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

*Please note, I have not yet read book 2 and would appreciate no spoilers for it please! 

I haven’t been captivated in a book just from the first page alone in a very long time. The Gilded Wolves broke this pattern, leaving me anxious to continue on in the story to see where the plot goes. To put this review simply, The Gilded Wolves is a masterpiece, carefully constructing a world that is both magical and realistic, with a band of characters that is simply a delight to read about. It’s honestly a very strong contender for my favourite book of the year. 

Set in a darkly glamorous world The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence and dangerous but thrilling adventure.

Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts:

An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.

Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive*

*Summary from Roshani Chokshi’s website!

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Recommendation: My Favourite Audiobooks

As someone who is pretty much always on the go, audiobooks have been a lifesaver. You just pop your earphones in and off you go transported into another world while your train to work chugs along slowly. At the beginning of the year, Caitlyn introduced me to scribd and oh boy did it change my reading life. For the fee of $10 a month ($15 AUD) you get unlimited books and audiobooks, allowing you to read to your heart’s content. In my opinion, it’s a completely superior deal than audible — but that’s another blog post in itself. (This post is in no way affiliated with scribd, I just think their service is super great! If you’re interested in joining scribd, feel free to use our referral code which will get you 2 months free!)

Anyway, without further ado, here are three of my favourite audiobooks that you should check out! 

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