Building the Book Pile #460

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Good morning! Happy Sunday and halfway through September (not sure where time is going).

Work in September is always crazy, so blogging and reading is always less-than stellar. 

xo steph

Coming up on the Blog

This Week:

Recent Reads: Tempest of Tea by Haesah Faizal (Adult)

Recent Reads - DNF - Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney (Adult)

Recent Reads: Dungeons & Drama by Kristy Boyce (YA)

Coming closer to their release dates: 

Hope It All Works Out - Review up on Sept. 17

Books Received Recently...  

 

Gentlest of Wild Things by Sarah Underwood - From the Publisher for review.

The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott- From the Publisher for review.

Warrior of Legend by Kendare Blake- From the Publisher for review.

The Knitting Witch by Norma Kassirer- From the Publisher & Librarything Early Reviewers for review.

One Wild Chrismas by Nicholas Oldland- From the Publisher for review.

Have you missed anything lately?

Queen of the Night by Elizabeth Muse  - 4 stars

Monthly Re-Cap & TBR Pile (Sept 2024)

A Great Big Virtual Hug - 5 stars

Wacky Witches and their Peculiar Familiars - 4 stars

Donating Caffeine is greatly appreciated ... Donate on Ko-fi

What have you been reading?  Leave a comment for me.

Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: Queen of the Night by Elizabeth Muse

Queen of the Night by Elizabeth Muse  

Publisher: ABO Publishing, LLC
Publication Date:  January 22, 2022 

 

Format: Ebook
Source: Freebie from a Stuff your Kindle day

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Frankie Baxter knows what it means to lose everything. Because once upon a time, she did. And being the oldest daughter of a mafia Don means going nowhere unguarded. Too bad she’s run off anyone who might stand a chance at keeping her safe.

Now, even a quiet night out with her girlfriends requires she spend some quality time under the watchful eye of the last remaining bodyguard willing to risk his neck to babysit, her ex-best friend, Charlie Morrow. The only man on Earth who seems to delight in pushing every single one of her buttons.

Not that any of that matters, though, when one of the Five Families, a rival organization hellbent on a hostile takeover of her father’s territory, comes for her, forcing her and Charlie to head to the one place nobody is brave enough to attack: her grandmother’s house.

Five days. One impromptu road trip. A mountain of secrets. And sexual tension so blistering it threatens to scar whoever makes the first move.

Of course, unlocking the vault of whispered conversations and previously classified family lore isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for Frankie. Especially when her best friend, turned enemy, turned lover, is a werewolf who’s been keeping her at arm’s length for her own safety.

Turns out a night with the big bad wolf never looked so good.

Review: 

Frankie is a mob-boss daughter, her brothers were murdered in front of her, and she is barely hanging on to her sanity. Her best-friend, who had always been around for all of them, wasn't there to help and wasn't there afterward either. She is even more pissed about that fact when he is assigned to be her babysitter/bodyguard now that she can go out again. While out they have to go on the run.

This is a mafia/werewolf/ romance  - it is spicy and short and was a quick read. 

Frankie is just a brat, Charlie has his guard up most of the time, but you can tell he cares for Frankie even though she is being a pain. Frankie really is just living through her grief being so angry.  

While the writing wasn't anything spectacular, the story/ spice/ will-they-wont-they elements were what kept me reading. The werewolf add-in was an interesting one and I am not sure it was nessesary but here we are, iot was weird, but worked. This short book was lots of emotion, fun and funny, and the dialogue was very entertianing. 

If you are looking for a shorter romance and like a mafia focus, this might be for you. (but it is spicy!)

Monthly Re-Cap & TBR Pile (Sept 2024)

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Here is the progress from August

I had a pretty good reading month... in part because of audiobooks

~~Books I Read in August 2024~~   

 Daisy Darker and The Power of Saying No were both in the DNF camp...sadly. Reviews will be up eventually. 

 TBR for SEPTEMBER

• The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
• Witchy Reservations by Stephanie Damore
• My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows (review)
• Blood on the Tide by Katee Robert
• The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott (review)
• Gentlest of Wild Things  by Sarah Underwood (review)

How was your August reading?  

Feel free to share it in the comments below! I would love to know what you are reading! 

Early Reader Review: Wacky Witches and their Peculiar Familiars by April Suddendorf

Source: From Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Wacky Witches and their Peculiar Familiars by April Suddendorf 

Publisher: NorthSouth Books
Publication Date:   Sept 10, 2024

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Warts, evil spells, and toads for pets? The modern-day witches in this book aren’t scary or frightening, but rather hip! Meet these diverse witches from around the world and their animal companions in this quirky picture book from debut author-illustrator April Suddendorf!

Every witch needs a pet by her side. But if you’re picturing black cats or toads, think again. Because in Wacky Witches and Their Peculiar Familiars the animal companions are just as original and likable as their witches: a little monkey helps his pink-haired witch cut her locks, while a parrot helps his tarot card-reading witch answer the phone.

In her picture book debut, German author–illustrator April Suddendorf plays with a cliché: witches are not evil, old, or scary, but modern, versatile women from all over the world. Joyful magic unfolds through clever rhymes as each witch, and her animal friend, is introduced. Readers, discover what kind of witch you want to be!

Which witch will be your favorite? For readers who love Room on the Broom and Witch & Wombat!

Review: 

This book was far more about the animals than the witches and it was so fun to see the variety of animals alongside a very diverse cast of witches.  We see some more domestic animals but also some fun exotic ones, for example, on familiar is a snake while another is a pangolin. One is a parrot, while another a crab. 

I appreciated that there were no cats to be found, so if that was what you were expecting... you might be disappointed. 

The book rhymes relaly nicely and the illustration is super detailed and cute with lots to look at on the large page spreads. Each familiar is helpful in their own unique ways, with racoons doing dishes, giraffes being ladders but also with sheep providing wool and yaks milk. 

Overally, I thought that this diverse cast of witches and their unique and fun familiars was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing what animals would pop up next. This could be a great read for kids that love animal or those that love Halloween and the spooky.. but this book really isn't spooky at all. 

Early Reader Review: A Great Big Visual Hug: Heartwarming Wawawiwa Comics by Andrés J. Colmenares

Source: From Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

A Great Big Visual Hug: Heartwarming Wawawiwa Comics by Andrés J. Colmenares
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date:  September 10, 2024

 

Format: Ebook


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Like a warm embrace in comic strip form, the cute, cuddly, and clever illustrations by Andrés Colmenares bring joy to millions of readers across the globe. A Great Big Visual Hug collects many of his most popular comics, along with dozens of never-before-seen images that are both heartwarming and hilarious.

Featuring cheerful characters like sloths, broccoli, snakes, cacti, pigs, and the cutest possible version of just about any animal or object you can imagine, Andrés Colmenares' comics are wholesome, amusing, clever, and often hilarious. This book collects the greatest hits from his popular series and feature dozens of new comics. A Great Big Visual Hug is great for all ages and an excellent birthday, gift, or self-care purchase.

Review: 

I really like collections like this one. Big Hug is a collection of comic strips about all sorts of things. They are heartwarming and charming little animals and creatures that express love, sadness, and have fun together. 

The strips are whimsical and cute and made me laugh out loud a fair amount. Collections like this are easy reads - each strip is ~1-2 pages and you can set it down at any point or blast threw them like I did. They are great to pick up and turn to a random page just to get a goos laugh as well. 

I have seen some of these comics online but don't actively follow the author/illustrator, so I was happy to see them all in one place together. I think that this creator is very imaginative and I love how they personify everything. My favorites were teh jack-o-lantern reading, the coffee and brain, and the little leaf that doesn't want to get out of the pool so mom gets the skimmer. (LOL, still makes me giggle thinking about it).

Overall, this book will certainly make readers smile, say awww, and for those that might just need a pick me up /encouraging read it would be a great addition or gift.