The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud || Book Review

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As a massive outbreak of supernatural Visitors baffles Scotland Yard and causes protests throughout London, Lockwood & Co. continue to demonstrate their effectiveness in exterminating spirits. Anthony Lockwood is dashing, George insightful, and Lucy dynamic, while the skull in the jar utters sardonic advice from the sidelines. There is a new spirit of openness in the team now that Lockwood has shared some of his childhood secrets, and Lucy is feeling more and more as if her true home is at Portland Row. It comes as a great shock, then, when Lockwood and George introduce her to an annoyingly perky and hyper-efficient new assistant, Holly Munro.

Meanwhile, there are reports of many new hauntings, including a house where bloody footprints are appearing, and a department store full of strange sounds and shadowy figures. But ghosts seem to be the least of Lockwood & Co.’s concerns when assassins attack during a carnival in the center of the city. Can the team get past their personal issues to save the day on all fronts, or will bad feelings attract yet more trouble?

Danger abounds, tensions escalate, and new loyalties form in this third delightfully terrifying adventure in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.

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4 Books to Read this Spooky Season

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Every year, I say I’m going to try and read some spooky season themed books for October and November. And every year … I epically fail at making this spooky season themed book list and it never happens.

But not this year! This year, I made this list and I will read them! It night creep into November, but I’m okay with that. November for me is always a hybrid between “let’s get spooky” and “let it snow”.

Since I’m scared extremely easily, I’ve picked cozy yet still spooky books for scaredy-cats! I hope you enjoy!

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2023 Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag

Published on by Jenna @ Bookmark Your Thoughts15 Comments

Hello, bookworms! I know it’s way past the mid-year mark of 2023 but I really wanted to participate in this tag. Life got in the way and I completely forgot … so now we have a Quarter-Year Freak Out Book Tag instead!

Overall, I’m really happy with my reading this year. Compared to the last couple of years, I’ve actually been reading more often and finding joy in reading again. Thank gosh!

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The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud || Book Review

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Ghosts and ghouls beware! London’s smallest, shabbiest and most talented psychic detection agency is back.

Life is never exactly peaceful for Lockwood & Co. Lucy and George are trying to solve the mystery of the talking skull trapped in their ghost jar, while Lockwood is desperate for an exciting new case.

Things seem to be looking up when the team is called to Kensal Green Cemetery to investigate the grave of a sinister Victorian doctor. Strange apparitions have been seen there, and the site must be made safe. As usual, Lockwood is confident; as usual, everything goes wrong – a terrible phantom is unleashed, and a dangerous object is stolen from the coffin.

Lockwood & Co must recover the relic before its power is unleashed, but it’s a race against time. Their obnoxious rivals from the Fittes agency are also on the hunt. And if that’s not bad enough, the skull in the ghost-jar is stirring again…

The author of the blockbuster BARTIMAEUS sequence delivers another humorous and chilling instalment in the critically acclaimed LOCKWOOD & CO. series.

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The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud || Book Review

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When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

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On an Ebbing Seafoam Tide by Alannah Radburn || Book Review

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Love, loss, witchcraft, avocado toast, and storming the patriarchy: an inclusive poetic perspective on millennial life. 

The ocean is one of the greatest metaphors: the ebb and flow of love and loss, the tumultuous emotions that roil beneath a blue-calm surface, the search for meaning in the endless horizons of sea and sky. On an Ebbing Seafoam Tide is a deep dive into reflections on the calms and tempests of everyday life.

Alannah Radburn’s poetry floats to the surface amidst the messy chaos of personal relationships and societal constructs, and comes together in a relatable perfect storm of practical wisdom. If you’ve ever felt like you were drowning in feelings or searching to find meaning in today’s turbulent times, you will find a lifeline in these poems.

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Book Lovers by Emily Henry || Book Review

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One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming…

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

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When in Rome by Sarah Adams || Book Review

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Opposites certainly attract for the stranded pop star and small-town baker in this charming slice of romance from the author of the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.

Amelia Rose, known as Rae Rose to her adoring fans, is burned-out from years of maintaining her “princess of pop” image. Inspired by her favorite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is.

When Noah Walker finds Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he makes it clear he doesn’t have the time or patience for celebrity problems. He’s too busy running the pie shop his grandmother left him and reminding his nosy but lovable neighbors to mind their own damn business. Despite his better judgment, he lets her stay in his guest room–but only until her car is fixed–then she’s on her own.

Then Noah starts to see a different side of Rae Rose–she’s Amelia: kindhearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. He can’t help but get close to her. Soon she’ll have to return to her glamorous life on tour, but until then, Noah will show Amelia all the charming small-town experiences she’s been missing, and she’ll help him open his heart to more.

Amelia can’t resist falling for the cozy town and her grumpy tour guide, but even Audrey had to leave Rome eventually.

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We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu || Book Review

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We Were Dreamers is more than a celebrity memoir – it’s a story about growing up between cultures, finding your family, and becoming the master of your own extraordinary circumstance.

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Feel Your Way Through by Kelsea Ballerini || Book Review

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The personal and poignant debut poetry collection from the award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer revolves around the emotions, struggles, and experiences of finding your voice and confidence as a woman.

“I’ve realized that some feelings can’t be turned into a song . . . so I’ve started writing poems. Just like my songs, they are personal and honest. Just like my songs, they have hooks and rhymes. Just like my songs, they talk about what it’s like to be twenty-something trying to navigate a wildly beautiful and broken world.”

Deeply felt and candid, Feel Your Way Through grapples with the challenges and celebrates the experiences Kelsea faces as she navigates the twists and turns of growing into a woman today. She addresses themes of family, relationships, body image, self-love, sexuality, and the lessons of youth. The poems speak to the often harsh—and sometimes beautiful—onset of womanhood. Honest, humble, and ultimately hopeful, this collection reveals a new dimension of Kelsea Ballerini’s artistry and talent.

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