Read Game Craft

When I first started this blog, my guidelines for the books I would read were that they would be by and about women. Hopefully, I would maximize the amount that the books I read would include and focus on characters who are also otherwise marginalized. Recently I've been thinking about how this limits me, but I'm still not really interested in writing about a bunch of straight, white guys. Luckily, Henry Montague (Monty) is only two of those things and Percy is only one. I've also been thinking about changing the name of my blog, but I have no idea what I would change it to. So if you have any ideas let me know. You can order it from Amazon  here . This book follows Henry Montague and his best friend Percy and Monty's younger sister Felicity as they embark on a Grand Tour of Europe. Along their way, they're supposed to drop Felicity off at finishing school in Marseilles. Their tour is turned on its head when Monty steals something he thinks is just a useless...

I would've preferred to have written this post a earlier in the month instead of almost halfway through, but I also figured that reading stories by and about black people should be limited to just this month. So I'd rather present this month as an opportunity to read and learn some new things and to continue that beyond just this month. If you only read one book off of this list this month you'll have plenty to read later as you go through the rest of the year. I also wanted to make sure I was sharing books by black authors because I and other white people have said enough and I'd rather take this as a chance to point you to the voices that you should lend an ear to. These authors are all doing really amazing things in literature and the world as a whole. I haven't read all of these because this list also serves as a reading list for me to educate myself. Dear Martin by Nic Stone Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none o...

Now that it's getting into August and I start sophomore year of college in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to fall and winter. I'm looking forward to wearing sweaters, partially because last winter was so mild in Alabama that I barely wore any of the sweaters I got for Christmas. I'm also looking forward to some cozy fall reading. Not all books released in the fall are particularly autumnal, but some of them are and I love a good seasonal book. I'm sure I'll be rereading some of my cozy favorites (Harry Potter), but I'm also looking forward to some new books coming out this fall.  These are in no particular order, but I made sure they're all either very recently released or upcoming so that you won't have already read them. While I am trying to diversify my reading and read about important issues, these are all books I am genuinely planning on buying and reading. These are the ones I'm looking forward to the most: (photos and descriptions ...

Publisher: Balzer and Bray Release Date: September 8, 2015  Synopsis: Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives. As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secre...

Synopsis for Six of Crows (because the synopsis of Crooked Kingdom has spoilers for the first book): Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don't kill each other first. I just finished Crooked Kingdom a few minutes ago, and I have so many feelings. First of all, it was wonderful. Second of all, this duology was so stressful to read. I ...

Title: The Sun Is Also A Star  Author: Nicola Yoon Publisher: Delacorte Press Release Date: November 1, 2016 My Rating: 4.5/5 Natasha:  I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story. Daniel:  I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us. The Universe:  Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?  The main thing I have to say about this book is how absolut...

Title: Lies We Tell Ourselves Author: Robin Talley Publisher: Harlequin Teen Release Date: September 30th 2014 I'd heard about this book online a lot and had wanted to pick it up for a while and finally did once I had enough money.  Synopsis: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept separate but equal. Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning ...