Taylor Fenner's Blog, page 66

What I'm Binge-Watching - 25 March 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!
I'm back on track with most of my shows this week, spent part of last weekend binging something new, and I'm contemplating starting some of the teen shows I started watching when I was younger then never finished just to see how they ended. 

Continuing

Current Episode - Season 11 Episode 1 - Are They About to Fight?

We've pretty much out-watched Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta at this point and need to take a break. Luckily once we are ready to dive back in there is only one season left on Discovery+

Current Episode - Season 9 Episode 7 - Cry On My Shoulder This is another show that I'm kind of getting sick of. You can only watch so many before you start zoning out. 

Current Episode: Season 2 Episode 7 - The Tale of The Whispering Walls I know this is a kids show, and I vaguely remember it from the later seasons being on tv when I was little but I watched the one reboot season on Paramount+ and once that ended (it was only 3 episodes) it started with the beginning of the series so I've been watching it while I'm home alone. Most of the episodes are kind of stupid and not at all scary but it is kind of funny to watch. 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

My mom and I finally gave this a chance on Sunday because it looked really good. It kept me interested but there was no resolution at the end. I honestly think if someone had checked into this case sooner maybe something would have come of it, but it has been almost 90 years and anyone who might have known something is long dead.  

This is not a binge-watch so much as a documentary my mom and I watched last night. The description on Hulu sounded interesting and we were bored with our usual shows so we gave it a shot. It was awful. It was so low-budget I can't even call it a documentary so much as the creator getting stock video offline and playing it over and over. Everything they said about H.H. Holmes (someone I hadn't heard of before this) was contradicted. One minute they said he'd killed 200 people then said it could never be proven, then that he'd confessed to killing 27 but some of them were still alive so it was a lie, that this "castle" in Chicago had all kinds of twists and turns and he used it to kill people then they disproved that. It basically was a waste of an hour in which you were left wondering if H.H. Holmes actually existed or if this was all just a figment of someone's imagination. 

Just Added to My Watchlist

None this Week... Although I just found out that most seasons of my favorite show, Midsomer Murders, is leaving Britbox on March 31st so I'll probably be binging that this coming week. 

What are you currently binge-watching? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!Happy binging!

I Can't Wait For... THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.
I like that this book is allegedly going to be told as if you are viewing a true crime docuseries and reading transcripts...

The Anatomy of Desire
Standalone
by L.R. Dorn
Thriller
eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 320 pages
May 11, 2021 by William Morrow

Blurb:
A modern tale of American striving, social media stardom, a fatal love triangle, and a young woman on trial for murder—a mesmerizing reimagining of Theodore Dreiser's classic novel of crime and punishment, An American Tragedy.

Claire Griffith seems to have it all, a thriving career, a gorgeous, successful boyfriend, a glamorous circle of friends. She always knew she was destined for more than the life her deeply conservative parents preached to her. Arriving in Los Angeles as a flat broke teenager, she has risen to become a popular fitness coach and social media influencer. Having rebranded herself as Cleo Ray, she stands on the threshold of achieving her most cherished dreams.

One summer day, Cleo and a young woman named Beck Alden set off in a canoe on a quiet, picture-perfect mountain lake. An hour later, Beck is found dead in the water, her face cut and bruised, and Cleo is missing. Authorities suspect foul play and news about Cleo’s involvement goes viral. Who was Beck and what was the nature of her and Cleo’s relationship? Was Beck an infatuated follower who took things too far? If Cleo is innocent, why did she run? Was it an accident? Or was it murder?

As evidence of Cleo’s secret life surfaces, the world begins to see just how hard she strived to get to the top— and how fast and far the fall is from celebrity to infamy.

L. R. Dorn’s reimagining of Theodore Dreiser’s novel, told in the form of a true crime docuseries a la Serial and The Jinx—with characters speaking through the “transcripts” of recorded interviews—The Anatomy of Desire exposes the ambition, sexual passion, and dark side of success that readers will find as achingly poignant as they did a century ago.
Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books (Help Support My Favorite Indie Bookstore)
***Will you be checking this book out? 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Funny Book Titles

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Funny Book TitlesThis week’s TTT is about funny book titles. I've read a lot of funny books, but I'm not sure how many of them had funny titles. Let's see if I can get to 10... 1. Romeo & What's Her Name by Shani Petroff

2. The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot


3. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro 
4. Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie

5. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

6. Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

7. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer 

8. Tequila Mockingbird by Tim Federle
9. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

10. Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins



***What funny book titles did you come up with?Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!Happy Reading Bookdragons!-Taylor

{Release Day Blitz} MONSTERS & MIST

 

Title: Monsters & Mist

Author: Taylor Fenner

Genre: Standalone Upper YA High Fantasy

Release Date: March 19, 2021

Blurb

The Girl with Warrior Aspirations.The Playboy Prince. The Ruthless Queen.
One will seek to enslave the world. One will lead the rebellion. And one will be the catalyst.
The Warrior General with a tragic past.The Disgraced Bounty Hunter. The Girl with the Constellation on Her Face.
One will rise to the challenge. One will return what was once lost. And one will embrace their destiny. 
Six lives. One world borne anew.
ADD TO GOODREADS

Amazon US | UK | CA | AUiBooks | PaperbackAudio (Coming Soon) | Kobo | B&N Google Play

AUTHOR BIO
TAYLOR FENNER is the author of seven Young Adult and New Adult novels and several short stories. Her Young Adult Fantasy Retelling, CURSEBREAKER was shortlisted for the 2017 Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction. 
Taylor is a twenty-something book junkie who devours books in most genres, although she has a soft spot for thrillers and horror novels and dreams of writing one someday. 
Taylor lives in Clintonville, Wisconsin with family and her two cats, Tiger and (the aptly named) Houdini. Besides writing, she loves horror movies - she says classic horror is the best - as well as cooking, Heath bar lattes, bullet journaling, and obsessively planning for Halloween starting in July (it’s never too early). You can follow Taylor on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
AUTHOR LINKSFACEBOOKPROFILE | PAGE | GROUP BLOG TWITTER INSTAGRAM GOODREADS

OTHER BOOKS BY TAYLOR

AMAZON US | UK | CA | AUB&N | KOBO | IBOOKS PAPERBACK

AMAZON US | UK | CA | AUB&N | KOBO | IBOOKSAUDIOBOOK | PAPERBACK

What I'm Binge-Watching - 18 March 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!
The past few days have been a catch-up of all of my soaps after missing nearly a week with my short-lived career as a packager in the bakery department of the local grocery store. Other than that we're still watching most of our usual stuff. 

Continuing

Current Episode - Season 9 Episode 8 - A Trio of Options

Can it be possible that we're almost to the end of catching up on SYTTD: Atlanta? How many seasons are left?

Current Episode - Season 8 Episode 9 - Tip 1960 My mom and I have been marathoning this today since she's home from work. The last episode took place here in Wisconsin and we're about to start S8E9.

Current Episode: Season 1 Episode 9 - A Parching Imbued I got sidetracked so I've only watched one more episode since last week, but I'm kind of enjoying taking it slow. I still like the show better than the books. 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

I've been catching up on GH on Hulu and I still can't believe *Spoiler Alert* - Highlight to Reveal: That they killed off Franco! But the actor isn't leaving the show so how is that going to work?? And the Peter storyline is getting boring. 

Yes, my soap opera addiction stretches across the pond. I started watching Corrie between Christmas and New Years and now I'm hooked! I know it only appears on Britbox on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but I had to binge them this past week because I had accumulated last Wednesday, Friday and this Monday's episodes. 

Just Added to My Watchlist

I subscribe to Paramount+ so I can watch my CBS shows and soap operas but I keep seeing previews for this new true crime docuseries and I think I'll check it out!

What are you currently binge-watching? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!Happy binging!

I Can't Wait For... THE LOST VILLAGE!

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.
This book sounds kind of disturbing but also like something I'd really like. I guess we'll see next week if I'm right...

The Lost Village
Standalone
by Camilla Sten
Thriller/Horror
eBook, Hardcover, udiobook, 352 pages
March 23, 2021 by Minotaur Books

Blurb:
The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:

They are not alone.

They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?
Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books (Help Support My Favorite Indie Bookstore)
***Will you be checking this book out? 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books On My Spring 2021 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books On My Spring TBRThis week’s TTT is another seasonal TBR, this one for Spring 2021. I'm still not making too strict of TBR lists because I've largely been mood reading lately but here are a few that I'm looking forward to, pushing to the top of my TBR, and a few ARCs I hope to get out of the way. 
1. The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse I got this book a few weeks ago and although it looks like more of a winter read I definitely want to read it yet this month if I'm able to. 
2. Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (ARC) I picked up the eARC for this a few weeks ago on Netgalley and kind of started it after The Dead and The Dark but my urgent need to read From Blood and Ash *right that minute* made me set it down. I'm looking forward to getting back into it. 

3. Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin (ARC) This was another eARC I picked up at the same time as The Dead and The Dark and Cool for the Summer  and it sounds really good. 
4. What She Found in the Woods by Josephine Angelini I've wanted to read this one since I first read about it in the publisher's newsletter and I finally found it in my library system's Hoopla. I'm probably going to read it in April (I used up all of my March borrows).

5. The House Guest by Mark Edwards I won an ebook copy of The House Guest last year through Goodreads but it's been sitting on my kindle ever since. I think it's time I finally read it, don't you?
6. Bloodine by Jess Lourey I'm still in Thriller reading mood and this one sounds really good. It also helps that it's on my kindle and helps my goal of actually reading up some of the books I keep putting on my kindle then never reading because I still prefer print books. 


7. Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher I've heard really good things about Amelia Unabridged and since its one of the most recent books I've gotten (that I haven't read yet) I definitely want to get to it this spring.

8. The Lost Village by Camilla Sten This book sounds slightly disturbing and I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to put it on my TBR but something is nagging at me that I might really like it. 

9. A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh I've seen this book on bookstagram and I've always loved the cover but I just recently took a look at what it's about on Goodreads and added it to my library to-borrow list. 

10. The Duke and I (Bridgerton #1) by Julia Quinn 
Yes, I've seen the Netflix show. I'm even considering rewatching it. And I want to read the book... but I'm kind of nervous to. These type of books are so removed from my comfort zone that I'm afraid I'm going to think the book is really cheesy and hate it. 
***What books do you want to read this spring? Have you read any of my picks? What did you think of them?Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!Happy Reading Bookdragons!-Taylor

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 15 March 2021

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Happy Monday Bookdragons! I hope your week is off to a good start! I started my new job last week so I don't have as much reading time now but I still managed to plow through a 600+ page book last week.
What I Read Last Week: The Dead and The Dark by Courtney Gould
I technically finished this book the weekend before but I had a busy weekend over the 5th, 6th, and 7th so I missed last week's post. It started slow but I really loved it by the end. There were times I wanted to strangle the people of Snakebite though. I definitely recommend checking The Dead and The Dark out when it releases in August.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I put off reading this one for a long time because I really wasn't in a fantasy mood last year. Finally I decided to read it after seeing a lot of people raving about it on bookstagram and I'm really happy I did. Despite it's size (600+ pages) I couldn't read it fast enough. 
Currently Reading:Island of Bones by Gaby Triana
I immediately wanted to read this book after finishing Moon Child by Gaby a couple weeks ago. I debated on splurging on it and a few other books and finally went for it so I'll be starting it tonight. It seems like a fairly short read which will be a nice break after From Blood and Ash. 
Next ReadShiver by Allie Reynolds
This was another of my book splurges last week and I'm really looking forward to starting it because I keep seeing it on bookstagram. 
*** 
 What are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post: 14 March 2021

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Hey Bookdragons! I took a half-week off from blogging last week because I started my new job on Wednesday and I didn't have anything scheduled ahead of time. I'm still balancing the work/blogging/writing thing but I'm hoping to make time for everything soon. 
🍀 I Can't Wait For... A History of Wild Places🍀 What I'm Binge-Watching - 11 March 2021

🍀 It's Monday! What Are You Reading 
🍀 Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Spring 2021 TBR
🍀 I Can't Wait For... THE LOST VILLAGE!
🍀What I'm Binge-Watching - 18 March 2021


Learn More:Island of Bones by Gaby TrianaShiver by Allie ReynoldsThe Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

💀 This Week I Bookmarked: Discover Monsters and Magic in Lyndall Clipstone’s Lakesedge

What I'm Binge-Watching - 11 March 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!

Continuing

Current Episode - Season 7 Episode 15 - The Ties That Bind

I'm actually remembering a lot of these episodes, but they're better to binge than wait a week for the next episode. 

Current Episode - Season 5 Episode 14 - Unmasking A Killer My mom and I split our true crime watching between Paula Zahn and Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall but I kind of prefer Paula Zahn. We also gave Disappeared a try recently but since there isn't really a resolution to most of the episodes it's kind of a let down.

Current Episode: Season 1 Episode 7 - Unburied This is my 3rd (or 4th?) rewatching of Witches of East End. I love this show and I really wish that it would have lasted for more than 2 seasons especially since season 2 ended on such a cliff-hanger. 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

My mom and I binge-watched this the weekend before last and I couldn't get enough. I really hope they bring it back for a second season. 

Just Added to My Watchlist

None this Week.

What are you currently binge-watching? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!Happy binging!