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 really bad at reading fantasy books and so I am trying to find some that intrigue me that I can start reading. Yes, this means I am taking recommendations for books that give off the same vibes as this one. I only picked this one up because I saw it on Scribd and I needed something new to read at night so I assumed I would be reading this for quite some time but to my surprise I devoured this book!
“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”
Stephanie Garber, Caraval
About The Book
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published Date: January 31st, 2017
Page Count: 407 Pages
Main Genres: Fantasy, YA, Romance
GoodReads Rating: 4.00
Format: Ebook
“Some things are worth pursuit regardless of the cost.”“Whatever you’ve heard about Caraval, it doesn’t compare to the reality. It’s more than just a game or performance. It’s the closest you’ll ever find yourself magic in this world.”
Stephanie Garber, Caraval
Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.
Synopsis From GoodReads
“She imagined loving him would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly beautiful when the stars came out.”
Stephanie Garber, Caraval
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.This book will definitely be making it in my top ten books of this year! I was so blown away by the first chapter that it was hard to put down.
I really cared about the characters in this book. I feel like everyone had such a tragic backstory that kept you wanting to learn more. I really loved Scarlett, our main character, she was determined to make a better life for her and her sister Tella, so determined that she would do anything to make it happen. She really proves herself throughout the entire book and you can tell she truly loves her sister. I also think her character development was fantastic!
I had my suspicions about how the book was going to end within the first few chapters and boy was I wrong! This book really kept me on my toes and had many twists and turns that kept me glued to the pages! I have already ordered the rest of the series and I can’t wait to start reading them.
“Whatever you’ve heard about Caraval, it doesn’t compare to the reality. It’s more than just a game or performance. It’s the closest you’ll ever find yourself magic in this world.”
Stephanie Garber, Caraval
QOTD: Waat is a beginner friendly fantasy series?
I have had this book on my radar for probably 6 months and I can’t believe it took me that long to finally pick it up! It is such a short book that I devoured it in one sitting and spoiler alert, I loved every moment of it!
“Their love wanted to fix her, and refused to see that she wasn’t broken.”
Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway
About The Book
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tor
Published Date: April 5th, 2016
Page Count: 173 Pages
Main Genres: Fantasy, YA, Fiction
GoodReads Rating: 3.82
“She was a story, not an epilogue.”
Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.
Synopsis From GoodReads
“We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women.”
Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.Like most books, I really didn’t know much of anything about it before I started to read it. I had no clue that it was as short as it was or that it had a bit of a mystery tied into it. All I knew is that a few booktubers said it would be a nice cozy read about kids who found doors to other worlds but couldn’t go back, But it was about so much more than just that.
This book had some really good themes about acceptance and honestly some of the conversations were tough to listen to but much needed. I truly loved this cozy YA Fantasy with a mix of mystery. If you are looking for those in a book make sure to check this one out!
“You’re nobody’s doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you.”
Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway
QOTD: What is a good Cozy Mystery?
World of Bai