The “TBR” Book Tag is a tag that I saw on Kayla of Books and Lala’s channel a while back and stumbled upon again when looking for a tag for today. It jumped out and that was how we ended up here now!

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Question One
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
I try to keep track of my TBR pile on my Goodread’s account. I only put the books that I own on my Want To Read shelf so that is one of the best ways for me to keep up an up to date list of the books I have unread.

Question Two
Is your TBR mostly print of eBook?
Most of the TBR I have is in physical books but I do have a handful of books on my Kindle that I need to read one day.

Question Three
How do you determine which books from your TBR to read next?
I like to say that I am a mood reader but I also feel better with a planned monthly TBR. Chelsea and I host the Random Dance Play-athon so that are eight books that I have planned for the month. The rest of the books I plan on reading are picked while I scroll through my Want To Read shelf on Goodreads.

Question Four
A book that has been on your TBR the longest.
The first book on my Want to Read shelf on Goodreads is Attachments by Raindow Rowell. I added that in 2011 which makes sense because I think that is when I joined Goodreads.

Question Five
A book you recently added to your TBR.
If I go by the last book I added to my Want to Read list on Goodreads it is Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan but the last book I bought is We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia.

Question Six
A book on your TBR strictly because of the beautiful cover.
There are many books on my TBR strictly because of the cover but scrolling through my Want to Read shelf on Goodreads is, I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn.

Question Seven
A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading.
As of right now, there are no books on my 300+ book TBR that I do not plan on reading.

Question Eight
An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for.
The only unpublished book on my TBR is a book that I already pre-ordered and that is The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black.

Question Nine
A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read except for you.
There are a lot of books on my TBR that everyone has read except for me but the one the pops into my mind would be Legendary by Stephanie Garber.

Question Ten
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you.
A book that everyone is always recommending to me is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. I just bought the second one and upon mentioning I haven’t even read the first on, the book seller said it is a book that needs to be read.

Question Eleven
A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read.
There are many, MANY books on my TBR that I am dying to get to but the one that sticks out the most is The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It is huge and I cannot wait to dive into it.

Question Twelve
How many books are on your TBR shelf?
I know there are more books on my actual TBR shelves in my library but if I were to guess, it would be 500+. On my Want to Read shelf, I have 308 books. I do have plans to catalog my books on Goodreads and an app I have called Book Buddy. Hopefully by the end of the month, I will have a more accurate count.

After taking a week off to recover from Pentagon earlier this month, I am ready to dive back in and start blogging again! I also took a week off from reading, instead casually listening to Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and some of her friends. I am hoping to finish it tonight during my audit shift at the hotel. Here are the four books I am trying to get through this week.

Currently Reading
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
I managed to get approved for this book on NetGalley so I am hoping to finish the ARC this week.

Planning to Read
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
This is the book for the Dragons and Tea Book Club and I have heard so many good things about it. I look forward to reading this with the group and I do plan on listening to the audiobook for it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Hello! So, something a little new for the blog. I helped to create last year. I have stepped back and asked a dear friend to take my place for the last couple rounds. Now, I am back and ready to spend a week reading nothing but manga! Below is the template with the challenges that Amanda (acourtofbooksandlove) creates for the readathon.

I hope you join us! If you have any questions regarding the challenges, just leave a comment and I will get to it and hopefully be of some help!

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Published: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 416
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: ★★★★★

“In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.”

A retelling of of Twelve Dancing Princesses, which is tale that I do not know but now I wish I did because this was amazing. It was so interesting and had so many twists and turns that I could not stop listening to the audiobook. There is a mythology that I wanted more information on. Everything about this, I loved. The characters are easy to love and also to hate.

There were twists and turns from the beginning when the book opens at a funeral for one of the 12 sisters. Our main character, Annaleigh is trying to piece together how her sister died. Possible murder, a suicide, an accident? There was a mystery element to the story as well that I did not really see coming. I just thought it was going to be a YA Ghost Story but no! It was so much more than that.

The images that Erin paints through our main character, Annaleigh are stunning and creepy at the same time. Normally, I am not a huge fan of books that are driven by atmosphere but this one was so different. It is a beautiful web of atmosphere and mythology and family all woven together. The other characters in the book all play wonderful parts in the story of Annaleigh and her mission to end the curse that surrounds her sisters. Her father is a sturdy figure for his daughters while the stepmother to the girls seems a little off, not being from the island. Her older sister Camile is the oldest and the heir to the Highmoore Estate is level headed and seems older than her years having to take up the alter of heir.

House of Salt and Sorrows is a book that I did not expect to love as much as I do. I thought it was going to be another story about a family of the ocean trying to solve the murder of the sister but it was so much more. If you love an atmospheric book, characters to make you love and other characters to dislike. The ghost story that is woven in with the other pieces of plot really made me walk around my hotel feeling a little creeped out and worried what I would see around the corner. This is a perfect fall read because of that.