Happy last Wednesday of the month, and welcome to another WWW Wednesday! I enjoyed doing this challenge from Taking on a World of Words a handful of times last year, and thought it might be fun to partake once a month in 2024. And for once in my life, I’m actually sticking to a challenge! Yay! Hope you enjoy!
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday is a weekly challenge or tag for bookish bloggers. It’s used to share:
- What you’ve just finished reading
- What you’re currently reading
- What you plan to read next
What I just finished reading
Across the Universe – Beth Revis
I listened to this book in audiobook form. It’s… not bad, but not super compelling either. Super cool premise, and I could kind of see some dystopian elements coming through, but the fact that I don’t really remember it a few weeks after reading says something. I’ll probably pick up the next book in the series, but I’m not super desperate to do so.
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade – Janet Skeslien Charles
I LOVED this book!! Put it on hold because it’s written by the same author as The Paris Library, which I also loved. I was not disappointed; apparently books about libraries and librarians are my new favorite thing. Who’d have guessed that lol. But yeah, another dual timeline, another librarian who has the same passion I do about uniting people with books, especially kids.
1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.
1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.
Echoes of Exodus – Alastair J. Roberts, Andrew wilson
I picked up another nonfiction book recommended (pretty sure) by a Youtuber I love. And I LOVE it so much! They find Exodus themes in the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and they do it in a super down-to-earth and understandable way. I’m seeing the stories I grew up reading and listening to in a whole new light because of this book!
The exodus stands as a pivotal event in the Old Testament—God delivering his people from slavery in Egypt. But if you listen closely to the overarching narrative of the Bible, you will hear echoes of this story of redemption across the pages of Scripture. After exploring the account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the authors then look at precursors to the exodus in the book of Genesis, as well as echoes of the exodus throughout the rest of the Old Testament and in the New Testament—shedding light on Scripture’s unified message of redemption from slavery to sin through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A Fire Endless – Rebecca Ross
This is the second in the elemental duology I started last month, and it’s just as wonderful as the first one. I love every single relationship in it, the storyline is compelling, and the writing is STUNNING. Personal preference says that some of the physical interactions could have been a *little* more filtered, but ALL THE CHARACTERS WHO DO THOSE THINGS ARE MARRIED?!?! That’s a rare thing these days, so I can at least appreciate that aspect of it. Again, wonderful, beautiful, spectacular book, makes me want to read other books by this author.
East and West. Humans and Spirits. Breccans and Tamerlaines. The Isle of Cadence has always held itself and its residents in a tenuous balance. But now Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, has pushed everyone and everything in his path off-kilter in a bid to claim dominion over all.
In the West, Adaira struggles to adjust to the more brutal, bitter ways of life among the Breccans. Striving to find her place in the clan, she swiftly realizes that it just might be the last role she desires to hold. And while magic blooms effortlessly for the Breccans in the west, the spirits continue to suffer beneath Bane’s harsh power, felt in every gust of wind.
In the East, Jack is adrift without Adaira until he sings to the ember-weak fire spirits, acquiring a dangerous mission he never expected. One that is destined to lead him westward. Likewise, Torin and Sidra are consumed by a new mystery as sickness spreads first amongst the crops, and then to the people of the Tamerlaine clan. While Sidra desperately searches for a cure, Torin dares to strike a bargain with the spirits—a precarious folly anytime, but especially now as the days grow darker.
With the island falling further out of balance, humans and spirits alike will need to join together to face Bane, and Jack’s gift with the harp will be called upon once more. Yet no one can challenge the North Wind without paying a terrible price, and the sacrifice required this time may be more than Jack, Adaira, Torin, and Sidra can bear to pay.
In the stunning conclusion to the Elements of Cadence duology, A Fire Endless finds the delicate balance between the human and faerie realm threatened by Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, whose defeat can only come through fire, song, and heart-rending sacrifice.
The Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis
I wrote a whole SHORT STORY this month, and part of its inspiration is The Chronicles of Narnia, so of course I had to go back and experience the series again. And lemme tell you, this series is a classic for a reason! The descriptions, the world-building, the characters, the way Aslan shows up in all the books in different ways… As glorious as I remember from when I was a kid. Highly, highly recommend.
ourneys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil—what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.
For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of Narnia have transcended the fantasy genre to become part of the canon of classic literature. Each of the seven books is a masterpiece, drawing the reader into a land where magic meets reality, and the result is a fictional world whose scope has fascinated generations.
This edition presents all seven books—unabridged—in one impressive volume. The books are presented here in chronlogical order, each chapter graced with an illustration by the original artist, Pauline Baynes. Deceptively simple and direct, The Chronicles of Narnia continue to captivate fans with adventures, characters, and truths that speak to readers of all ages, even fifty years after they were first published.
We Could Be Villains – Meghan Mccullough
After months of saying, “Oh, I should read that!” I finally picked up this book in kindle form and lemme tell you, it did not disappoint. I read the whole thing in ONE SITTING this past week, and it was AWESOME!! I haven’t done that in a while, so yeah, I think I needed this book to get me back on track. It sums up fandom culture SO WELL, and the FMC is basically me and every fangirl ever if we were to find out that our favorite book or movie series was real. So cool!!
Avoid spoilers. Don’t get fired. Defeat a not-so-fictional supervillain?
Seventeen-year-old fangirl Rosemary Collins lives for VIGIL & ANTE Studios movies. From action-packed superhero fights to sweet character moments, she’s here for it all. But in a real-life crossover no one saw coming, the fandom’s heartthrob supervillain, Ironfall, isn’t as fictional as the film studio wants her to believe. Beyond the glamorous red carpet lies the government’s most guarded secret: the movies are real.
Armed with a devilish grin and a wit as sharp as his knives, Ironfall needs her help, and refusing means he’ll kill her parents. Her only other option involves spying on him for the government’s secret superhero division. Suspended between fact and what she thought was fiction, Rosemary must join her heroes and create an impenetrable web of lies—or guarantee her parents’ safety as she watches the world burn at its adored villain’s hand.
Perfect for fans of pop culture and comics, WE COULD BE VILLAINS packs an entire cinematic universe into a book. Join Rosemary and the not-so-fictional heroes (and villains!) of the VIGIL & ANTE films in this imaginative science fiction where superhero battles equal publicity stunts, fictional characters become family, and the villain just might steal your heart.
What I’m currently reading
Re-Lit: Latinx Remixes of Fairy Tales
I checked this book out because it sounded cool, and it is. I don’t usually read short stories but enjoyed these little slices of mixed-up stories from a Latinx perspective.
These sixteen stories by award-winning and bestselling YA authors center a Latinx point of view in an empowering anthology that reimagines classics through fantasy, science fiction, and with a dash of magic, for fans of A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN and RECLAIM THE STARS
In classic stories remixed, Latinx characters take center stage
Pride and Prejudice is launched into outer space, Frankenstein is plunged into the depths of the ocean, and The Great Gatsby floats to an island off the coast of Costa Rica.
A shape-shifter gives up her life to save the boy she loves from an evil bruja. La Ciguapa covets a little mermaid’s heart of gold. Two star-crossed teens fall in love while the planet burns around them.
Whether characters fall in love, battle foes, or grow through grief, each story will empower readers to see themselves as the heroes of the stories that make our world.
Fate Breaker – Victoria Aveyard
Yep, I’m still reading this one (and I’ve had this library book since *gulp* March)… IDK, it just got really heavy and a little bit slow and I just don’t think I wanted that this past month. But I’m determined to finish it! Soonish!
A dark fate descends. A shattered alliance must rise.
The Companions are torn apart and the realm hangs in the balance, at the edge of ruin. Taristan and Queen Erida rise triumphant from the battlefield, while Corayne barely escapes with her life; her Companions left behind to uncertain fates.
But not all hope was lost: Corayne managed to steal Taristan’s Spindleblade. Without it, Taristan can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world.
Now, from every corner of the realm, the Companions race to reunite while they rally old allies and seek unexpected new ones, in one final push against darkness.
But Taristan and Erida are all but invincible. With their cruel god, What Waits, on their side, they will sacrifice anything and anyone to his hunger.
Everything has come to this. In the final clash between good and evil, a ragged alliance makes its bravest stand against a ruthless enemy . . . and the demon god who would consume the realm entire.
Promchanted – Morgan Matson
This book is so cute!! It’s more of the type of book I’ve been needing lately, nice and light-hearted but not overly superficial. I LOVE the idea of real-life people being sent into fairy tale worlds (and vice versa), and I hope they come out with more like this one!
Two modern teens.
One classic fairy tale.
Absolutely no cell service.
Stella Griffin doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Ever since her boyfriend dumped her three weeks before the prom— not ideal timing—she’s convinced every love story is a lie.
She’s ready to skip the prom entirely. But she and her best friend, Nisha, have been planning for years to celebrate at Disneyland before the prom . . . an OG OC tradition. But even being all dressed up at the Happiest Place on Earth isn’t salvaging Stella’s night. Nisha has brought along her friend Reece to join them, and he and Stella do not get along. They’re like oil and water. Cats and dogs. Aladdin and Jafar. And so what if Reece is, fine, kind of cute? Stella’s over it all. Happily-ever-afters, true love’s kisses, princes on white horses. It’s not real.
. . . Or is it?
Because when Stella and Reece push through a hidden door in Sleeping Beauty’s castle, they’re not in Anaheim anymore. They’re in the story. In Sleeping Beauty —with Aurora and Phillip, the fairies, Maleficent, and extremely intelligent woodland creatures.
Unfortunately, they’ve landed right in the middle of the story—which throws things off. Suddenly, Aurora and Phillip are meeting before they were supposed to. The fairies are suspicious of the interlopers, and even Maleficent gets word of their arrival.
Stella and Reece will have to put aside their differences, make sure Aurora and Phillip fall in love, and get the story back on track—because if things don’t end the way they’re supposed to . . . they might never get home.
Will they be able to pull off a fairy-tale ending? And will Stella and Reece get a happily-ever-after of their own?
What I want to read next
Maze Runner & MAZE CUTTER series?!?! – James Dashner
YOU GUYS THERE’S A SEQUEL TO THE MAZE RUNNER SERIES AND I NEED TO READ IT which means I also need to go back and read the original series because it’s been a while. So yeah lol
If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Everything is going to change.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
Remember. Survive. Run.
Threads That Bind – Kika Hatzopoulou
I saw this book at Barnes & Noble and was instantly fascinated by the remise. It sounds a bit like Percy Jackson, but instead of demigods it’s children of the Fates?! Yes please!
In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.
Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.
But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen—and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they’ve even met.
But the investigation turns personal when Io’s estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city’s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city’s most powerful players—before destruction comes to her own doorstep.
We Could Be Heroes – Mike Chen
My MMC is currently reading this book (he thought we were reading the same one lol) and it’s been on my TBR for a while but I finally got it from the library! That summer reading challenge won’t know what hit it lol
An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.
Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s reads! What are you reading currently? I’d love to know!
Happy reading!
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