March 29, 2020
Happy Sunday, friends! Hope you’re all stay healthy and safe! I’ve had such a productive three day weekend! I ordered a new bookshelf that will be here soon, rearranged my entire room, and knocked a couple of books off my TBR, so I’m pretty stoked! Unfortunately, I’ll be back at work tomorrow and will be on a long stretch too, bleh. Therefore, I am trying to make the most of today!
I wake up around 0500 for work, and my body has decided even on my off days- it’s the best time to wake up. That being said- I generally always keep a couple of books by my bedside so I can have options, so I figured it’s time I partook in a ‘Sundays in Bed With’ meme, hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
Havenfall by Sara Holland
Christie and I are buddy reading this. While YA/ Fantasy is Christie’s go-to genre, it is not mine, so I feel like I’m holding her back from living her best life as I have been babysitting this book all week, BUT we’re in the homestretch now. The goal is to finish by Tuesday, so we can wrap up our monthly reads. So far, it is holding my attention and it does read fairly fast (faster if I can just buckle down and focus, lol).
Synopsis:
A safe haven between four realms. The girl sworn to protect it — at any cost.
Hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado lies the Inn at Havenfall, a sanctuary that connects ancient worlds — each with their own magic — together. For generations, the inn has protected all who seek refuge within its walls, and any who disrupt the peace can never return.
For Maddie Morrow, summers at the inn are more than a chance to experience this magic first-hand. Havenfall is an escape from reality, where her mother sits on death row accused of murdering Maddie’s brother. It’s where Maddie fell in love with handsome Fiorden soldier Brekken. And it’s where one day she hopes to inherit the role of Innkeeper from her beloved uncle.
But this summer, the impossible happens–a dead body is found, shattering everything the inn stands for. With Brekken missing, her uncle gravely injured, and a dangerous creature on the loose, Maddie suddenly finds herself responsible for the safety of everyone in Havenfall. She’ll do anything to uncover the truth, even if it means working together with an alluring new staffer Taya, who seems to know more than she’s letting on. As dark secrets are revealed about the inn itself, one thing becomes clear to Maddie–no one can be trusted, and no one is safe.
I chose this book on a whim. I honestly have not heard too much about this book and the reviews on Goodreads aren’t too convincing; however, I made some new year resolutions for reading that I am determine to keep. I’ll only mention the ones pertaining my decision to keep this book on my TBR:
- Read books by authors of various backgrounds;
- Don’t rely too heavily on GR ratings.
Synopsis:
Pulitzer Finalist Susan Choi’s narrative-upending novel about what happens when a first love between high school students is interrupted by the attentions of a charismatic teacher
In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving “Brotherhood of the Arts,” two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed—or untoyed with—by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley.
The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true—though it’s not false, either. It takes until the book’s stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place—revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence.
As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.
What book(s) are you currently reading? Are you hoping to get in anymore before the moth is over?
A Court of Books and Brews 