Booked with Abby

There are 104 days of summer vacation according to Phineas and Ferb but sadly, those days are up. School going to be starting in September and summer is coming to a close. I barely read anything in August. I was in such a huge reading slump this month. It was terrible! Luckily, after reading Love & Olives , I'm back to my normal reading schedule. I hope September is better! Book Reviews: A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer Rating: 5 stars I love this book! I can't wait for the sequel to come out in October! One more month! My Review The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise  by Dan Geminhart Rating: 4 stars The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise  was so cute and charming. My Review The Beholder by Anna Bright Rating: 5 stars Omg Anna Bright is definitely going on my favorite author's list! My Review The Secret Life of Bees  by Sue Monk Kidd Rating: 2 stars I liked this book a lot more than I was expecting to. My Review ...

You think you know the story of Jane Eyre, but you don't. Jane lives at Lowood where conditions are horrible. After the untimely death of the headmaster, she leaves to become a governess to Mr. Rochester. Charlotte, Jane's only friend, and inspiring writer is sad to see her go. When the two girls meet Mr. Blackwood, their plain lives become dangerous. Jane gets caught up in larger plots to take over England and soon enough, its fate rests on her shoulder. This was an exciting take on Jane Eyre . As soon as I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. My Plain Jane  sucked me right in. There was so much suspense and there were so many amazing plot twists. Just when I thought I knew how it would end, the book took a completely different direction. This was more than I could have ever hoped for. My Plain Jane  was funny, suspenseful, and entertaining. I definitely want to read the other two books in this series. I don't think I've ever read historical fiction as great as th...

Tim's family is torn within the war. With a loyalist father and a patriot brother, Tim doesn't know what side to take. In the town of Redding, most people support the king. Tim starts to lose everyone he loves due to the awful war. Tim is trying to keep his broken family together but Sam dies much too soon.        My Brother Sam is Dead  takes place during the American Revolution. One thing that I found different from every other revolution book is the main character's family supports the British. Almost everyone in the book supports the king. Usually, these types of books always take the side of the rebels but in this book, the rebels were more like villains.         There were a lot of powerful moments and a few tear-jerking ones. I wouldn't say the book was boring, but there were some really slow moments. The chapters in this book were really long so I ended up listening to an audio on YouTube most of the time.       ...

Everyone has that one middle-grade book that they just absolutely adore. I liked reading middle-grade once in and while because they are quick and always light-hearted. Today, I'm going to be talking about my five favorite middle-grade books. 5. Maybe a Mermaid  by Josephine Cameron The first book I'm going to talk about today is Maybe a Mermaid.  I was so emotionally invested in this story. I loved all the characters. Anothoni and her mom travel to Eagle Waters for the summer. There, Anthoni is determined to find a true blue friend. Soon, rumors of a local mermaid start to surface and her summer becomes full of mystery. My Review 4. Loot  by Jude Watson The next book on this list is Loot . Loot  was a gripping mystery full of plot twists. March and his sister are cursed to die on their thirteenth birthday. The only way to break the curse is to steel seven moonstones by the night of the blue moon. Loot Review 3. The Remarkable Journey of Coy...

Lily Owens has no mother. According to T. Ray, Lily killed her mother in a gun accident when she was four. Lily can't stand T. Ray so one day, she decides to run away from home taking Rosaleen with her. The two end up in Tributon, South Carolina. Lily knows that her mother had stayed with August when she was in Tirbuton and soon sets off on a quest to learn more about her. In the process, she learns the meaning of family and forgives herself for what happened long ago.         I didn't love The Secret Life of Bees . It was really boring at first and the only way I was actually able to enjoy the book was by listening to an audio of it. I think I might have enjoyed the book a little more if I didn't have to read it for school. Does anyone else have that problem? They have to read for school and end up hating something they would normally love? Even though I didn't love the book, this was one of the best I've read for school.         Anyway, a...

I loved The Beholder  so I just had to make a playlist for it! All of these songs go along with the book in some way Everybody Talks- Neon Trees Casual Affair- Panic! At the Disco Boys- Charli XCX Irresistible- Fall Out Boy Nicotine- Panic! At the Disco Lips Are Movin- Meghan Trainor Hallelujah- Panic! At the Disco If you haven't read The Beholder  yet, make sure to check out my review! I'm so excited that the sequel, The Boundless,  recently came out.

So Taylor Swift's new album, Folklore recently came out and everyone loves it! Am I little late to comparing the songs to books? Yeah but I'm gonna do it anyway!   the 1 Red Queen  by Victoria Aveyard This song reminds me so much of Mare and Maven's relationship!   cardigan The Year After You by Nina de Pass When Cara felt low in the world, she meets Hector who lifts her up. the last great american dynasty Alex & Eliza  by Melissa de la Curz "the last great american dynasty" is a song about an infamous heiress and her fabled Holiday House. The perfect book for this song would be Alex & Eliza.  Eliza reminded me a bit of Rebeca and both women are shameless and have loads of money. exile Love & Gelato   by Jenna Evans Welch "exile" just goes to show even the strongest of relationships can fall out without communication. When Lina first gets to Italy in Love & Gelato , she has a hard even talking to Ho...

Hello everyone! You may be asking yourself, gee why hadn't we had any ARC reviews come up recently? Well, I get my ARC books from a local bookstore (R. J. Julia- you should totally go check it out). I read the books in exchange for reviews so the buyers know what to stock their store with. Due to a little worldwide pandemic called COVID-19, I was unable to go to the store and pick up books.         But those worries are over because I have some new books! Remember how excited I was in my R J Julia haul way back in March (when I found The Betrothed )? Well, I'm even more excited now! Just wait till you see what I got! Love & Olives  by Jenna Evans Welch Gosh, I still can't believe I got a hold of this book! I was devastated when the release date was pushed back a few months but I got it! I am excited beyond words to read this book! I loved Love & Gelato  and Love & Luck  so much and now that I have the third book in the series, I can't...

Since I missed the Reading Rush this year, I decided I was going to make up for it by participating in the ScallywagAThon. The scallywag-a-thon is a pirate-themed reading challenge. The ScallywagAThon is hosted by Ali ( Hardback Hoarder ), Amanda ( Read All the Books ), and Vanessa ( Paper Faerie ). I think it's super creative since it's choosing your own adventure. There's also a website for the scallywag-a-thon that has all the information and the prompts.  And here's my TBR! Challenge 1: Captin's Cabin: by the most popular author The first book I'm going to be reading for the ScallywagAThon is Scythe  by Neal Shusterman. This was such a popular book and I've heard so many good things about it.  Challenger 6: Bawdy Song: has romance For Challenge 6, I'll be reading Yellow  Brick War  by Danielle Paige. This book is part of the Dorothy Must Die series. In the last book, Amy and Nox seemed to be developing some type of romantic ...

Selah is ready for her happily ever after. She is the heir of Potomac. She must find someone to rule beside her. When her proposal ends with rejection, her stepmother sends Selah across the ocean to find new love. If Selah doesn't get engaged, she can't come home at all. But her stepmother has bigger plans that may result in Selah not coming home at all.          The Beholder  reminded me of a lot  Cinderella . Selah had a wicked stepmother and a dashing prince. I loved that there would be excerpts from different fairytales through the book too. And it wasn't just in English. The excerpts were written in both the original language and the English translation which I thought was pretty cool.          The Beholder  was kinda a mix of dystopian and fantasy. Potomac seemed to be in one of the Americas (north, I think). I guess it was a fantasy book because that's what Goodreads says.         Selah...

Quiz! Yay! Today, plan a road trip and I'll tell you where you're going! About The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise Coyote Sunrise lives on Yager (an old school bus) with Rodeo (her dad) and Ivan (her lovable cat). Once a week Coyote calls her grandmother who lives up in Washington state. One day, her grandmother tells her that a park in her old neighborhood is being torn down. The same park where Coyote buried a memory box with her late mother and sisters. Coyote has to go back. She has to get the box. Somehow, she is able to convince Rodeo to make the three thousand mile journey back to Washington. Along the way, they pick up lost souls including a runaway teen, a friend that will last forever, and a goat. Yes, you read that right. They get a goat. My full review

Some books get so much hype while others go unnoticed. The five books I want to talk about today don't get the recognition they deserve. The ranking of these books is based off of how much I loved the book. 5. Sea Witch  by Sarah Henning At first, I didn't really like Sea Witch , but about halfway through I fell in love with this story. Trust me, if you read enough of the book, it'll quickly become a favorite. Review 4 . Forged in Fire and Stars  by Andrea Robertson I have seen literally no one talking about this book! It was such a great way to start off the series. It was so freaking good! Review 3. Onyx & Ivory  by Mindee Arnett Again, I have never seen a single soul in the bookish community talk about this gem. Onyx & Ivory  sucked me straight in and I loved it! Review 2  The Beholder  by Anna Bright I can't say that this one is completely under the radar since the sequel, The Boundless , recently came out. Sti...

Coyote Sunrise lives on Yager (an old school bus) with Rodeo (her dad) and Ivan (her lovable cat). Once a week Coyote calls her grandmother who lives up in Washington state. One day, her grandmother tells her that a park in her old neighborhood is being torn down. The same park where Coyote buried a memory box with her late mother and sisters. Coyote has to go back. She has to get the box. Somehow, she is able to convince Rodeo to make the three thousand mile journey back to Washington. Along the way, they pick up lost souls including a runaway teen, a friend that will last forever, and a goat. Yes, you read that right. They get a goat.         I really liked this book. I never lost interest or had a hard time picking it up.  The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise sucked me right in. I fell in love with all of the characters. Coyote is quirky and quick-witted. She's lived on the road since the age of five and I instantly loved her. Another character I loved w...

This week, I want to talk about A Tale of Magic . I think the book was absolutely amazing so let's book talk! There will be spoilers for A Tale of Magic  so beware! Madame Weatherberry is the Snow Queen         So let's just start out with the biggest surprise. I was so stunned when I found out Madame Weatherberry was the Snow Queen. I mean really, it was MIND-BLOWING! Can you say plot twist? I could not put it down after that.         After this, I was so excited to see what happens next. When we first met Madame Weatherberry I thought she was such a nice person and would never do anything evil. Then, when the witches came, I was convinced that she might,  like  really slightly,  be a little  bit evil. But I still hung onto the hope that she was good.         THEN, when she explained everything to Brystal, I knew she was truly good. She was risking her life to fight the Snow Queen! Or so we th...

Brystal Evergreen is an outcast living in the Southern Kingdom where girls are only raised to be wives and mothers. Girls aren't supposed to read, but Brystal loves books and she knows she's destined for great things. When she's caught using magic, she is enrolled in Madame Weatherberrys Academy of Magic only after weeks of torture. But when Madame Weatherberry starts to disappear for weeks at a time, Brystal and her friends start to question her true intentions for the school. And they are darker then they could ever imagine. HOLY PLOT TWIST, THIS WAS A GOOD BOOK! So if you can't guess already, I loved A Tale of Magic . There were so many plot twists and everything was amazing. It's definitely in my top 10. I loved Chirs Colfer's The Land of Stories  so much. One of the reasons I love his books so much is because the world-building is absolutely amazing. His characters are so well-written and I always feel like I'm right there with them. A Tale of Magic  is...