A book lovers blog
February is the month of love and typically I would have all romance reads on my hopefuls list but this year I just have a desire to read a mix of things. One of these days I will actually read all of the hopefuls on my list in the month I pick them. Some of these books I am listing have been on my hopefuls list several times or even back to back which is so sad! But I have high hopes for this month!
QOTD: What book are you excited to read this month?
Is it just me or did January fly by?! But seriously though, I felt like I was running out of time to get anything read last month and I have some regrets. If I am 100% honest January was my month of cozy gaming, I restarted my Animal Crossing Island, Played Coral Island and Stardew Valley but honestly didn’t read as much as I would have liked.
“Legends and Lattes” By Travis Baldree
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.
But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
Synopsis From GoodReads
“Babel” By R.F. Kuang
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Synopsis From GoodReads
“Comfort Me With Apples” By Catherynne M. Valente
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.This book was extremely short so I didn’t think making a full review was necessary so here are my thoughts.
I had seen this book on so many peoples wrap ups over the last year and It sounded so intriguing. I had just watched the movie Don’t Worry Darling and so this book really gave me those vibes to start which I loved! However I think because I listened to the audio book it didn’t let me get the full intense vibe that this book was trying to give off. I think I will be rereading this one soon just so I can understand it a bit more but overall I did enjoy this book.
“The Witch Boy” By Molly Ostertag
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.I Never write full reviews for graphic novels so here are my quick thoughts.
This is a middle grade read so I really didn’t expect a lot but the art was absolutely gorgeous. The overall message about gender rolls was really cute and I do think it will be great for younger kids to pick this up and see that they can be anything they want and put their minds to.
“The combined aromas of hot cinnamon, ground coffee, and sweet cardamom intoxicated her, and as she brewed and smiled and served and chatted, a deep contentment welled up. It was a glowing warmth she’d never experienced before, and she liked it. She liked it a great deal.”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
“… The price of what I meant to do Was higher when the day was through, And when I took a different road, I almost couldn’t feel the load …”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
“If we push in the right spots – then we’ve moved things to the breaking point. The the future becomes fluid, and change is possible. History isn’t a premed tapestry that we’ve got to suffer, a closed world with no exit. We can form it. Make it. We just have to choose to make it.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
“A lie was not a lie if it was never uttered; questions that were never asked did not need answers. They would both remain perfectly content to linger in the liminal, endless space between truth and denial.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
QOTD: Favorite read so far in 2023?
As someone who is not a fantasy reader I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I had seen only good reviews for this book and also heard that it was a cozy low stakes read which sounded right up my alley and they were not wrong! If you are looking for a cute, cozy read that will make you hungry then please pick this book up!
“After twenty-two years of adventuring, Viv had reached her limit of blood and mud and bullshit. An orc’s life was strength and violence and a sudden, sharp end—but she’d be damned if she’d let hers finish that way. It was time for something new.”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
About The Book
Author: Travis Baldree
Publisher: TOR Books
Published Date: February 22, 2022
Page Count: 296 Pages
Main Genres: Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ+
GoodReads Rating: 4.36
Format: Physical Book
“… The price of what I meant to do Was higher when the day was through, And when I took a different road, I almost couldn’t feel the load …”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.
But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
Synopsis From GoodReads
“Things don’t have to stay as what they started out as.”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.I believe that this book has started an obsession with finding cozy low stake fantasy books. I need more books that the world is easy to understand, you fall in love with each and every character, and you just want everyone to succeed.
My favorite part about this book was all the small details that were written into the story such as, the making of the menu board, the recipes that thimble puts together and last but not least the romantic tension between the two main characters.
I was constantly hungry while reading this book and I am so glad I ended up at a coffee shop for my own iced latte.
This book was a fairly short read and I think that was the worst part! I was not ready for their story to end, so much so that I would only read a chapter a day so that I could savor every moment. Don’t get me wrong, I could have sped through and read this in one day but that might have broke my heart.
If you haven’t yet, please do yourself a favor and pick this fantastical read up, especially while it is still cold and possibly snowy out. I promise you will not regret it!
“The combined aromas of hot cinnamon, ground coffee, and sweet cardamom intoxicated her, and as she brewed and smiled and served and chatted, a deep contentment welled up. It was a glowing warmth she’d never experienced before, and she liked it. She liked it a great deal.”
Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes
QOTD: What are some other cozy low stake fantasy reads?
2023 is starting off a lot slower than I would have hoped. This will be only the second book I have read so far and January is practically over! I have two other books that I am currently reading and I really hope to finish them over the next few days, my fingers are crossed.
“If we push in the right spots – then we’ve moved things to the breaking point. The the future becomes fluid, and change is possible. History isn’t a premed tapestry that we’ve got to suffer, a closed world with no exit. We can form it. Make it. We just have to choose to make it.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
About The Book
Author: R.F. Kuang
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Published Date: August 23, 2022
Page Count: 545 Pages
Main Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
GoodReads Rating: 4.35
Format: Audio
“She learned revolution is, in fact, always unimaginable. It shatters the world you know. The future is unwritten, brimming with potential. The colonizers have no idea what is coming, and that makes them panic. It terrifies them.
R.F. Kuang, Babel
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Synopsis From GoodReads
“A lie was not a lie if it was never uttered; questions that were never asked did not need answers. They would both remain perfectly content to linger in the liminal, endless space between truth and denial.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.“No one’s focused on how we’re all connected. We only think about how we suffer, individually. The poor and middle-class of this country don’t realize they have more in common with us than they do with Westminster.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
This is a book that made it on almost everyone’s 2022 top 10 lists so I knew I needed to pick it up and see what all they hype was about. Honestly, I really struggled at first because I felt almost to dumb to be reading it. But the mor ethe story progressed the more I fell in love with it.
I would have died for the majority of these characters! The relationships built throughout the book really tugged at your heart and made you want what was best for the characters and their relationships. I feel like in most books where you have a fairly large cast of characters it can be hard to grow any kind of connection to the majority of them but with this book that just wasn’t the case. Their relationships with each other were a very important part of the book and if the character building wasn’t done well then the book would have fallen flat.
This book talks about some really important topics, the biggest two to me were race and social classism. These are things that our world was built around and this book really dives deep into how we as a world need to come together and make some much needed changes as these are two huge issues in todays society.
Something that really stuck out to me is that even if the world is unwilling to change YOU are capable of changing and making your own small impact to make this world a better place.
With all of that said I would highly recommend this book especially on audio. The audio book was amazing because a second voice would read the footnotes to you as they were happening and even help with pronunciations. I hope this makes you want to give this book a chance because it will change your outlook on the world.
“That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
QOTD: What are some good books about Race, Classism and Feminism?
“Be selfish,” he whispered. “Be brave.”
R.F. Kuang, Babel
I am wanting to start 2023 off strong with some great books so all my picks this month are books that are five star Predictions. I really hope they live up to the hype I have for them in my head.
Most of these books I have seen high ratings for or I have read a 5 star book by that author in the past. I really hope they live up to my expectations and that I can start this month off strong!
QOTD: What is a five star prediction for you?
Wow! 2022 was such a great year for reading for me! I read 62 books and found a few of my all time favorite books. I even started to DNF books that didn’t bring me joy which was a huge win for this year! Lets dive in and see all the best and worst books I read last year.
In no particular order here are my top ten books of the year!
Book Of The Year
“Caraval” By Stephanie Garber
This book caught me by surprise! This was one of the last books I finished this year and I was obsessed! I typically don’t read fantasy but this one was a great way to get me excited to read more.
Least Favorite Book
“Leave The World Behind” By Rumaan Alam
I really wished I would have DNF’d this book. Honestly, this was one huge waste of time and I do not recommend it!
I don’t have a link for this review because I listened to it on audio and really didn’t have anything worth while to say about it.
Best Dressed (Prettiest Cover)
“Under The Whispering Door” By TJ Klune
I love this cover because it really shows the magical capabilities that this book will offer you while you read it. The weird shaped house really shouldn’t be able to exist yet it does. I just love the colors as well.
Most Likely To Make You Swoon
“Things We Never Got Over” By Lucy Score
I would say this is one of the most rememberable romance book I read this year with some of the best steamy scenes as well. I just overall loved this book and the beautifully written characters.
Most Likely To Be Reread
“A Man Called Ove” By Fredrik Backman
I had sworn off this author after reading “Anxious People” Last year but I picked this one up on audio and my heart broke! This was such a sad book but I can see myself rereading it just to have those feelings again.
Best Graphic Novel
“Heartstopper” By Alice Oseman
This Graphic Novel Series took the world by storm and much like everyone else, I fell madly in love with them! I highly recommend these books and even the TV show on Netflix.
A Book That Was Over Hyped
“Daisy Jones and The Six” By Taylor Jenkins Reid
I had heard some amazing things about this book but honestly I didn’t understand the hype. It was hard to really care for the characters with the way this book was writen.
A Book That Surprised Me
“House Of Earth And Blood” By Sarah L. Maas
This was a huge book and also the first fantasy book that I really dove into. I read this book super quick and fell in love with the characters. However, it did also put me in a book slump and made me scared to read big books.
A Book That Got Me Out Of A Reading Slump
“Every Heart A Doorway” By Seanan McGuire
This was a super fun and quick read. Sometimes all you need is to just finish a book to get out of a slump so anything small is a great option! This was so magical and fun that I think anyone can get into it.
A Book That Put Me Into A Reading Slump
“The Ex Talk” By Rachel Lynn Solomon
I honestly had high hopes for this book and it let me down. This book was the one that helped me to learn that I am not a fan of enemy to lovers. The book moved very slowly and just left me feeling meh.
A Book I Wish I Had Read
“The Thursday Murder Club” By Richard Osman
This book sounds like everything I would want from a book. I am a sucker for a good mystery and I think this would hit the spot!
A Book I Would Like To Read In 2023
“Babel” By R.F. Kuang
This book has been talked about by literally everyone on Bookstagram and I am so jealous of everyone who has read it. This is very high on my TBR and I can’t wait to dive into it!
2022 has been my best reading year ever and I really hope I can keep this momentum going into 2023. I have many reading challenges I would like to get to this coming year in hopes to be able to finish not only more books but a wider range of genres this year. I can’t wait to see what this coming year has in store for me and my blog.
QOTD: What is a book you are excited to read this year?
World of Bai