Tag: books

WWW Wednesday | 1/8/25

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

I’m hoping to have more time to read this weekend, but we’ll see. My weekend is busy but I think next week should slow down a little (I hope). It’s been a busy start to the New Year (it always is) but my kids just went back to school today so I get a little quiet time back. Yay! I got a basic Kindle for Xmas (thanks to my hubby) so I’ve been getting some reading time in. I find myself reading very slow on it though, not sure why. Anyway here is what I’m reading and what I’ve finished:

What are you currently reading?

Nature of Frost by. Jus Accardo (arc) – 50% – working on this

Immortal Dark by. Tigrest Girma – 8/416 – just started this one, not gonna lie – reading hardcovers now is so hard for me because my free time is usually before bedtime and it’s easier to read on a kindle!

The Grandest Game by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes – pg. 111/372 – hoping to finish this one soon, at least it’s a quick read, very short chapters

Anathema by. Keri Lake – 2% – chose this for my Spell the Month TBR list, so definitely trying to finish it.

Just Listen by. Sarah Dessen – 2% – I chose this also for my Spell the Month TBR list and it’s a re-read but I haven’t read it in 10+ years. So I wanted to read it and review for my blog since I was obsessed with Sarah Dessen books back in the day.

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you reading right now?

Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee and Fonda lee| ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Breath of the Dragon

Author: Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 1/7/25

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Martial Arts, Fantasy, Young Adult, Series, Politics

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!



The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.

Content Warning: violence

Jun and his twin, Sai, are born in the East where only a dragon breathmarked can learn to fight be picked to become an elite warrior. When their family is torn apart, with Jun and his dad to the West and Sai and his mom in the East, Jun has to do what he can to see them again. The first step is to become the next Guardian. And to do that he has to join a fighting tournament against the toughest fighters in the West.

If you like martial arts, you will love this story. It’s got fighting, politics, found family and it’s overall just such an entertaining story! I really enjoyed the world-building.

I really enjoyed Jun as the main character – he’s stubborn, but you know this kid has such a good heart. He wants to be a Guardian but it’s so he can make his dad proud and find his mom and brother. I was really rooting for him through his growth and his fights. I loved watching him build relationships with Ren, Chang and his rival Yin. There is political intrigue going on in the West but I think with how this book ends, we’ll get to see what is happening in the East next.

The fighting scenes are great! Very violent but so good that I wish this was a tv show or movie – remember those days of martial art movies? It’s definitely entertaining.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one a lot and can’t wait to read the next book!

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Book Links:

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Jade City by. Fonda Lee | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/5/25

Aloha friends!

What a week. Here’s what happened:

  • Finally got a haircut – it’s been since February I think!
  • New Year’s Eve – Hawaii always goes crazy with fireworks. I think there were MORE fireworks this year, it started early and my dog was miserable. We stay home on NYE because of him, keep him comforted. We watched WICKED at home and loved it! Watched the fireworks show outside our windows (there’s a professional fireworks event near us and we had a lovely view) – but since the whole island lights up, we pretty much can see fireworks outside every window upstairs. It’s like a war zone out there.
  • New Year’s Day – Woke up to news there was a bad fireworks incident in town, 3 people died with 20+ injured, horrible fireworks accident. It was my nephew’s 17th birthday so we went into Waikiki and had lunch with the family at Hard Rock Cafe.
  • My daughter turned 8 on Friday. She got to open presents from me and her dad in the morning. We also had a passport appointment – theirs only last 4 years because they are kids and it expired in July. So I wanted them to have new ones just in case we go to the Philippines this year. After the appointment we went to eat at Wendy’s because she loves their nuggets. Then we went to Kids City which is like an indoor playground.
  • My son is back to piano lessons on Saturday – so we did that then picked up her ice cream cake for her party today.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Wicked – again while I’m cleaning

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

WWW Wednesday | 1/1/25

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Happy New Year everyone!! How was your New Year’s Eve? Did you party or was like me and stayed home because my dog is miserable with the fireworks?

Well we made it to another new year – 2025 – I’m going into this new year feeling a bit of dread but you know what, we just gotta do what we gotta do. I’ll just escape into my books.

What are you currently reading?

Nature of Frost by. Jus Accardo (arc) – 50% – I just found out this is a sequel and I never read book one! 🫠. Where is my brain? sigh…

Unhallowed Halls by. Lili Wilkinson – 40% – this is an arc I’m working on.

The Grandest Game by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes – pg. 60/372

Immortal Dark by. Tigrest Girma –

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you reading right now?

2024 | A Year in Review

It’s that time again in the year, the end of the year where I look back and see how much I’ve read during the year. The only place I track my reading is on Goodreads so this is what Goodreads says I’ve read:

I read 181 books last year and this year just 134 (3 books were read by my daughter) and I am very happy with that. My goal was to read less, so I don’t burn out and I did a good job! *pats myself on the back**.

Of course a Sarah J. Maas book is going to be the longest one I’ve read this year! lol not a surprise at all. As for the shortest book? Well my daughter read that one and since my kindle app is linked to my Goodreads, it picks up the books she’s read. And a 385 page book sounds like a dream – I’m glad that’s the average length of a book I’ve read this year!

I finally read Verity and I’m excited to see how they adapt it into a movie. My least shelved book is from an indie author who asked me to read and review her book called Spindleheart. My rating average basically stayed the same from 2023 which is interesting.

This was my first review of the year….

And supposedly my last review…this was a good one!

Here are some stats of how I rated books this year. I have a lot of 4 star books only because if I give it a 3.5 rating, I round up since Goodreads doesn’t allow us to do half stars.

I didn’t do many blog tours this year – very, very few:

BLOG TOUR} The Summer Swap by. Sarah Morgan | Book Excerpt

Blog Tour} The Catch by. Amy Lea | ARC Review

As for some personal favorites of mine this year:

The Women by. Kristin Hannah

The Last Bloodcarver by. Vanessa Le

Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth #1) by. Kristen Ciccarelli

Funny Story by. Emily Henry

Not Another Love Song by. Julie Soto

The Thirteenth Child by. Erin A. Craig

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by. Carissa Broadbent

Quicksilver by. Callie Hart

How was your reading year? Did you reach your reading goals? What was your favorite books of 2024?

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/29/24

Aloha friends!

Christmas is over. We went to a family party Christmas Eve night and had tons of fun. We went home with so many prizes! Gift cards, treats and I won a whole pot and pans set which I shared with my mom since I didn’t need most of it 😅. My kids had a blast but let me tell you we were so tired on Christmas day lol…so we opened only stocking gifts because we had to head out to my mom’s for Christmas lunch. My daughter was overstimulated and had one break down at the lunch but I get it – the party the night before, the anticipation for Christmas and presents and being tired! Lunch was nice and you know with my mom having stage one bladder cancer and my sister’s sis-in-law dealing with stage 3 breast cancer this year, and my hubby being gone and finally home for good…it was nice to be around family and knowing we got through a challenging year.

Kids enjoyed their gifts and I enjoyed my gift (a kindle from my hubby)! We also had Hanukkah to celebrate the night of Christmas and let me tell you, I was struggling to stay awake. I was done and didn’t even have caffeine the whole day. But I ate so much all day (I have left overs for days in my fridge) that I decided to go on youtube and do a Just Dance workout before bedtime. My son got up and joined me and we had so much fun, so it was a long day but a lovely day.

Then we went to a Shabbat service on Friday night to celebrate my father-in-law’s anniversary, he passed 2 years ago. Thing is the service was a potluck Shabbat/Hanukkah party. So there was a lot of people and it was festive so the kids had fun and we got to honor their grandpa which is where their Jewish side comes from.

Now onto the New Year – and planning my daughter’s birthday!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Currently Reading:

  • Unhallowed Halls by. Lili Wilkinson
  • Nature Frost by. Jus Accardo

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Beyonce Bowl Halftime NFL Show – she was gorgeous and ethereal all in white! What a performance. I need to get myself to a Beyonce concert.
  • The Polar Express – my daughter mentioned this was her classmate’s favorite movie and I said okay let’s watch it. She lasted 20 minutes and left the room. I never watched it because I always thought the animation looked creepy and I stick to my opinion after sitting through that whole movie. The animation is creepy! It was an okay movie.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Looking Back on 2024: Books on the Backlist

I did read some books from the backlist this year. I’m not good at trying to clear my TBR list EVER…I just try to get some books I’ve been wanting to read from the online library so if my backlist titles are few…that’s why. Let’s take a look at the backlist titles I read in 2024.

Books on the Backlist

  • The Endless War (The Bridge Kingdom, #4) by. Danielle L. Jensen
  • The Great Alone by. Kristin Hannah
  • Nettle & Bone by. T. Kingfisher
  • The Fine Print by. Lauren Asher (Dreamland Billionaires, #1)
  • Heart of the Sun Warrior (The Celestial Kingdom, #2) by. Sue Lynn Tan
  • Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer
  • Verity by. Colleen Hoover
  • King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3) by. Ana Huang
  • Check & Mate by. Ali Hazelwood
  • A Fire Endless by. Rebecca Ross
  • The Unmaking of June Farrow by. Adrienne Young
  • The Ever King (The Ever Seas, #1) by. L.J. Andrews
  • The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by. Megan Bannen
  • Butcher & Blackbird by. Brynne Weaver

Let me know in the comments!

WWW Wednesday | 12/25/24

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrate! My kiddos were excited this morning of course and for lunch they are going to open more present at their grandparents’ house. And also it’s Hanukkah and we also celebrate that so…

It’s why my daughter loves December and January. She’s got Hanukkah, Christmas and her birthday lol. And my wallet is like…😩. Also my energy is like 🫠. But I did read some books – woohoo!

What are you currently reading?

Unhallowed Halls by. Lili Wilkinson – 6%

Breath of the Dragon by. Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee (arc) – 10%

Nature of Frost by. Jus Accardo (arc) – 7% – I just found out this is a sequel and I never read book one! 🫠. Where is my brain? sigh…

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you reading right now?

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/22/24

Aloha friends!

It was a long week at school for the kiddos and we can’t wait for winter break which starts this Saturday! Are you all feeling in the Christmas spirit at all? It’s still warm here so for me, I feel like it isn’t the holidays at all.

I’m gonna try make some Christmas cookies for a Christmas eve party we got invited too. Maybe that will put me in the spirit!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • The Lotus Shoes by. Jane Yang

Currently Reading:

  • Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue by. Kate Pearsall
  • North is the Night by. Emily Rath
  • Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Looking Back on 2024: New to Me Authors

I feel like I read a bunch of new authors this year – let’s take a look!

New to Me Authors in 2024

  • If I Promise You Wings by. A.K. Small
  • These Deadly Prophecies by. Andrea Tang
  • The Summer She Went Missing by. Chelsea Ichado
  • Snowglobe by. Soyoung Park
  • Compass and Blade by. Rachel Greenlaw
  • The Half King by. Melissa Landers
  • The Last Bloodcarver by. Vanessa Le
  • Nettle & Bone by. T. Kingfisher
  • The Fine Print by. Lauren Asher
  • So Let Them Burn by. Kamilah Cole
  • The Poisons We Drink by. Bethany Baptiste
  • A Winter Wish by. Emily Stone
  • Spindleheart by. T. I. Avens
  • Beautiful Villain by. Rebecca Kenney
  • Curious Tides by. Pascale LaCelle
  • Just for the Summer by. Abby Jimenez
  • Warm Hands of Ghosts by. Katherine Arden
  • Flawless Girls by. Anna-Marie McLemore
  • The Calculation of You and Me by. Serena Kaylor
  • Dungeons and Drama by. Kristy Boyce
  • A Magic Fierce & Bright by. Hemant Nayak
  • This Summer Will Be Different by. Carley Fortune
  • Not Here to Be Liked by. Michelle Quach
  • A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang
  • Birding with Benefits by. Sarah T. Dubb
  • All Roads Lead to Rome by. Sabrina Fedel
  • The Girl with No Reflection by. Keshe Chow
  • Castle of the Cursed by. Romina Garber
  • The Monstrous Kind by. Lydia Gregovic
  • Happy Medium by. Sarah Adler
  • Filthy Rich Fae by. Geneva Lee
  • Dishonestly Yours by. Krista & Becca Ritchie
  • Fledgling by. S.K. Ali
  • Deja Brew by. Celestine Martin
  • Fear of the Flames by. Olivia Rose Darling
  • Road of Bones by. Demi Winters
  • House of Thorns by. Isabel Strychacz
  • Eleven Houses by. Colleen Oakes
  • The Wren in the Holly Library by. K.A. Linde
  • Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson
  • Truly, Madly, Deeply by. Alexandria Bellefleur
  • Cloak of the Vampire by. Sapir A. England
  • Darkly by. Marisha Pessl

I read from 45 new-to-me authors this year! 👏🏽 My favorites that I would definitely read from again are:

Vanessa Le, Marisha Pessl, Demi Winters, Geneva Lee, Sabrina Lee, Lydia Gregovic, Sarah Adler, Serena Kaylor, T. Kingfisher, Emily Stone, Kristy Boyce

How many new to you authors did you read in 2024? Or who is your new favorite?

Let me know in the comments!