So I think for the blog and writing I did pretty well in April. I just need to get back to reading and do more writing. Because I’m a blogger and writer so there is always more writing lol. Anyway, here are some of my goals for May
1. Get 325 to 350 views in a month.
Originally I was only shooting for 300 but I already passed that at the end of April, so I clearly needed a new more ambitious goal.
2. Get another 10 followers for the blog.
Okay so I was writing this in late April and I just kept getting followers. Not complaining at all, but I decided to make my goal to hit 125 followers for May. I’ll take more of course. I also got a TON last month not sure if it can be done but again these are always just things to shoot for.
3. Get back to my normal 4 books a month.
I was in a bit of a reading slump last month so I’d like to try to get out of that. I bought a few Kindle books, so I’m looking forward to finishing those. I have a few debuts like The Winter Duke, as well as a few backlisted titles I haven’t gotten the chance to enjoy.
4. Try and do two blog posts a day.
I’d like to get ahead for the month of May and potentially into June. But I’m flexible with this. I’m going to give myself at least one day of rest and be okay with one post a day sometimes.
5. At least 500 words on one of my writing projects per day.
I’m going to be flexible here too. Some days I’m just going to want to play Animal Crossing, some days I’m going to get more done. I’m also giving myself at least one day of rest for this too.
6. Try and finish up some of my tags.
I’m going to try and tackle some of the tougher ones and even if I don’t have a lot of information or books go ahead and get them shared and get them done with.
I started reading this as part of my mental health booklist. But I’m of two minds about this book being on the list. I’ll explain in my review.
Annie’s Life in Lists
Mental Health Book?
Annie’s Life in Lists is a sweet read. You get to know Annie and her family through lists she makes in her journal. They are usually about things like her life, or her family. The reason I think this book ended up on mental health lists is because of Annie’s extraordinary memory. I know experts don’t believe there is such a thing as a photographic memory, but Annie’s is close. Annie’s memory is also one of the focuses of the book and it gets her in trouble and helps her throughout the book.
Now I’m of two minds about whether it deserves to be on a books about mental health list. Annie after a certain incident in the book Annie feels like she has to hide her great memory, like a lot of kids with mental health issues do, she also thinks her great memory is the reason for something bad that happens to her family, like a lot of kids with mental health issues do.
In many other ways, though she appears neurotypical, since Annie has to hide this element of who she is from her friends, and the list-making can be a known trait of other mental health conditions, I’m inclined to say Annie has something, maybe a minor form of autism or OCD. But definitely enough for this book to warrant a spot on the mental health list.
Synopsis
Annie’s a shy fifth-grader with an incredible memory and a love of making lists. The lists help her keep calm and keep track of things in an a world that grows more complicated by the day.
Things are happening that she can’t control them. She’s also not sure if these things are her fault. Like her family moving out of Brooklyn after she blabbed to the principal of her school about their address being different than what was listed. Her great memory got her in trouble when she was just trying to make small talk with the principal!
Now her family is moving to the tiny town of Clover Gap, Maine, and it may be all her fault, her brother hates her because he thinks it’s all her fault too. Annie also has to start over in a new class and make new friends, with one girl making things harder for her than the rest. Her brother doesn’t seem like he wants to fit in and still tries to avoid speaking to her.
Now her parents are worried about money. Annie turns to her lists to make sense of things, but as she and her brother both settle into Clover Gap, they realize things may not be as simple as they seem, and Annie may have nothing to do with the move. Are their parents keeping secrets? Will Annie finally find her place in the small town? Will her brother finally stop blaming her? Do her lists have the answers or will she have to finally find her voice and find the answers for herself?
Review
I really loved the concept of all lists for a book. It took a little getting used to at first. I almost didn’t get past the first couple of chapters but I’m glad I did because it is a really sweet read about a girl with a unusual way of looking at things who comes out of her shell throughout the course of the book. I’d say it’s a solid 4 stars.
So as we are in the last days of April I’d thought I’d see how I did for my goals for this month. Some were wildly ambitious and didn’t happen, some I actually hit pretty close to the mark.
Get over 250 views for the blog in a month.
This was the one I didn’t think was possible. But as of April 25th I’d already beaten that goal, so, apparently, it is.
2. Get 100 followers on WordPress
Okay, now this one I was hopeful but thought it was unrealistic, but at the time of writing this post I’ve got 104 followers, so apparently it wasn’t too unrealistic to happen. Thank you to all my new followers.
3.) Finish 10 books in April
This one just didn’t happen, I’m blaming it solely on working on my novel. Which is at nearly 20,000 words, also I’ve been in kind of a reading slump. But thankfully, I’m going back to some old favorites and reading debuts so hopefully, this number will go up in May. I was ahead anyway so I don’t have to worry about my yearly reading goal taking a hit.
4. Do Tarot three time a week
This past week I only missed one day of doing tarot so I think I did pretty well.
For some reason, psychic type reminds me of superheroes and supervillains While they might not always have psychic powers they have powers that set them apart. This power often makes them mentally more powerful than the average person in their world.
Keeper of the Lost Cities
You shouldn’t be surprised to see this here knowing I’m a huge fan of Shannon Messenger’s writing. Sophie Foster thinks she’s just an average human girl but she’s in for a surprise when she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who tells her she’s an elf.
She wants to laugh in his face but she’s also got secrets, she may be about to start a new life as an elf, but it may be even tougher than being a human, with strange abilities, unusual projects, new guardians, and memories that may not even be her own.
Sophie just wants to settle into a quiet life but is she part of something bigger?
The Pokemon that reminds me of this book is: Azelf
One reason it reminds me of this book is because it has elf in the name, two is because its abilities something Sophie figures out she can do, and three, because it’s the Willpower Pokemon and Sophie, has a lot of willpower to get through her new life and adventures.
A story of good and evil, though telling which is tougher than it seems. The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies―humans with extraordinary abilities―who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society. They established peace and gave hope to everyone.
Except for the villains they overthrew who are also superpowered and have a reason to have a beef with The Renegades. Take Nova, for example, she’s part of a villain group that opposes the Renegades. Nova and the Renegades have a personal history, they hurt her family, now she’s out for vengeance.
But as Nova meets and interacts with Renegade boy, Adrian, who believes in justice and in Nova herself. But should Nova listen to her heart or her past? And will her history with the supervillains even give her the chance to be on the good side?
The Pokemon that reminds me of this book is: Gallade
This Pokemon has extraordinary psychic abilities and is able to fight just like the superheroes and supervillains.
This book is kind of timely considering we are going through an epidemic at the moment. When a deadly virus swept across the planet, the vaccine created to stop the epidemic worked. Except it came with unexpected side effects for a small percentage of people. They developed superhero-like powers Americans suffering from these so-called adverse effects were given an ultimatum: Serve the country or be declared a traitor.
But there was always a third option: a life of crime.
That’s how Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba is living, her ability to change her appearance at will makes it easy. After dealing with some mobsters Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals. They have to do the impossible and find the formula that gave them their abilities. It was supposed to have been destroyed years ago.
Or so they were told.
Throw in government agents and the lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment start to blur. As the race for the answers about the virus continues the answers could cost them all their lives.
The Pokemon this book reminds me of is: Abra
It reminds me of this book because of its ability to disappear at will reminds me of Ciere’s ability to change her appearance.
Sorry I haven’t been as active. I have chronic migraines that have come back seriously, due to me not being able to get treatment due to Covid-19. That being said, I’ll still do everything I can to keep this blog one of my major focuses and provide you with interesting and engaging reviews and tags.
My second book down for Year of the Asian Readathon, I might actually make my goal this year, I’m reading another YARC book by Tae Keller, When You Trap a Tiger, that’s based in Korean folklore. But first, let us talk about the book that took me like sixish months to finish?
Lalani of the Distant Sea
Synopsis
Lalani Sarita’s is just trying to get by Sanlagita where life is difficult and women aren’t valued. Whenever someone tries to leave the island they never come back, a fate that befell Lalani’s father. Lalani and her mother have to suffer from her stepfather and stepbrother. And deal with a drought that has hit the island.
When Lalani travels up the mountain the islanders think is evil, she meets a creature there who grants her wish, but not in the way she imagined. And when distress falls on the village, Lalani ends up shouldering the blame.
To help her mother who has fallen ill from an incurable disease, Lalani must leave the island to find the riches of the legendary Mount Isa, which towers on an island to the north. It holds what might be a cure for her mother and a way for Lalani to erase the mistakes she’s made in the village. But where generations of her people have failed to reach the island what chance does an ordinary girl have?
Erin Entrada Kelly is a Filipino-American writer of children’s literature. She was awarded 2018, John Newbery Medal, by the Association for Library Service to Children for her third novel, Hello, Universe.
Review
I really enjoyed this book because of its unusual narrative structure. It had chapters that were written from different people’s perspectives like a usual book, however, what was unusual was the perspectives from things like the different creatures in the book, the trees, and birds. I’ve never encountered this before and I really liked it, you were never really sure what you were going to get in the next chapter.
However, I think while these chapters were interesting, it sort of felt like they slowed the overall pace of the story. It made sense that they were there narratively, but the pacing kind of got lost in the mix so by the end you almost forgot why you going on the journey with Lalani in the first place because you were too interested in the other side characters and adventures that were described or at least I was?
But I liked the book I just think the pacing threw me off and that is why it took me a while to finish it. Overall I’d say the book is a solid four stars.
I like this book a lot better than the first for several reasons, mostly because of the main character changing from Book 1.
Warning Spoilers Ahead
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Steel Tide (Seafire)
Summary
Caledonia finds herself separated from her crew after nearly choosing to face an old foe, instead of running to safety with her crew. After nearly dying, Caledonia is pulled out of the sea barely alive and nursed back to health by the last people she’d expect. A crew of former Bullets who call themselves the Blades.
The Blades escaped Aric Athair’s clutches and are now nomadic, ready to leave when any sign of trouble comes their way. Caledonia herself represents trouble, and some of the Blades particularly one named Pine don’t like that.
But Caledonia makes some friends among the Blades, including Sledge and Triple, each of the Blades have given themselves their own names and prides themselves on having a sense of choice.
But when Caledonia finds out her crew is being held at the infamous Slipmark, she must convince the Blades to jump back into the fight and help rescue her beloved sisters.
Along the way, Caledonia finds out more about life in the Bullet army and just what all is under Aric Athair’s control. She senses a way to start a revolution if she can convince everyone to want to fight.
But the battle for the world of the Bullet Sea maybe even more surprising than Calendonia expected when an old enemy shows up with the last person she’d expect: her brother.
Review
Okay first off, nearly dying knocks some sense into Caledonia. Not much, but enough to make her MUCH more tolerable throughout this book. I also love that when she reunites with her crew, she has to pay for her action, she doesn’t just get automatically forgiven.
Second, the Blades are by far my favorite thing about this book, their love for choice is like super important. Like Sledge says early on in the book. “Consent is our most important choice.” Ahh! So wonderful. Also, Sledge may be built like The Rock but he is the big softie of the book.
Finally, the look into Bullet society is enlightening, it makes me wonder how things will be resolved in the third and final book Stormbreak, which comes out this November.
Steel is a strong and resistant type that can’t be poisoned by other Pokemon types. All these books have strong heroes and heroines that don’t let things get them down.
Mechanica
Nicolette is the Cinderella in this Cinderella story, only her awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica”. The name fits though, her mother was an inventor and she is too, even though her mom is gone now. She’s got a life of servitude with her stepsisters.
However, life may have a few surprises left when Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday—and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse. Nicolette starts to imagine a life beyond serving her stepsisters.
The timing is perfect there is technological exposition and a royal ball coming up, and Nicolette is going to invent her own happily ever after and wow the prince as well as the entrepreneurs as well.
Can Mechanica build a new life for herself or will she be stuck with the steps forever?
The Pokemon this book makes me think of is Magearna
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The reason Magearna reminded me of Mechanica is that it seems like something she would invent and it also kind of looks like it’s wearing a ball gown.
It’s barely been a day since Edwy was returned to Cursed City where he was born from Fredtown where he was raised. Now he’s being shipped off again, smuggled to a boarding school in Refuge City. He’s there with his sister and brother, but they don’t even like him very much.
But his sister and brother start to warm up to him and teach him about some of the technology he missed out on during his upbringing and some of the histories he missed as well.
But when he learns the other children from Fredtown are stillin Cursed City, he makes a plan to try and get back to them, will his brother and sister help or are they too caught up in their own lives?
The Pokemon this book reminds me of is:Melmetal
It reminds me of Melmetal because Refuge City is the most advanced city that the people on Edwy’s side have, but it’s still sort of thrown together compared to their enemies just like Melmetal is made of just nuts and bolts.
Caledonia Styx lost her family to the corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, now she’s out for revenge. But her course takes her over dangerous seas with her ship Mors Navis, and her crew of girls and women. Her crew is all like her, people who have lost their families because of the evil warlord.
Their armored ship keeps them alive but isn’t any match face to face with Aric Athair’s full armored fleet. After Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survive an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect.
Caledonia must question everything she knows and feels about the Bullets, for a chance to bring Athair down once and for all. But will this boy be the key to victory or threaten everything the Mors Navis has worked so hard to create?
The Pokemon this book reminds me of is: Aegislash
Aegislash reminds me of this book because it reminds me of their ship the Mors Navis because the ship is based on metal and can be both defensive and offensive.
After her parents allegedly committed treason, twelve-year-old Petrel is an outcast. She doesn’t fit anywhere among the three warring tribes. They all live on an ancient icebreaker that has been following the same ocean course for three hundred years.
But things change for Petrel when a boy has discovered on a frozen iceberg and the crew is on alert. Petrel hides him hoping for a friend, but what Petrel doesn’t know is the ship holds a secret and her new friend has been sent to destroy it.
The Pokemon this book reminds me of is the: Registeel
Because the book deals with technological opinions on whether technology should play a role in society the book reminded me of the Pokemon who is kind of like a robot.
I also chose Registeel because it’s a legendary Pokemon and there is a very important piece of technology that comes up in the book.
Eevee is special Pokemon in the Pokemon universe in that it can evolve into eight different types. A lot of these evolutions are based on on the friendship your trainer has with the Pokemon. So I thought I’d do a special series on Eevee focusing on the different evolutions and friendship.
Instead of doing a list like I did for the other Pokemon types I’m just going to do one book each I think embodies each Pokemon. Join me as we explore Eevee’s types and go on another Pokemon and book adventure!
Lizzy and The Good Luck Girl was a lot of things, but first of all, it was cute, it had cats and friendship and luck and it was just a sweet read.
Twelve-year-old Lizzy Sherman lives in the small town of East Thumb, Maine, upstairs from her family’s diner. She tries to keep her eye out for signs, things that will warn her of good or bad luck so she can have a problem-free existence.
She pays attention to everything from clouds in the sky to juice on the floor spilled in the shape of a heart. If she can figure out what theses signs mean, she’ll know what to do next and know how to keep herself and her family safe.
When Lizzy and her best friend Joss go search for a stray cat, they find a runaway girl instead. When Lizzy notices a tiny four-leaf clover tattooed on the girl’s hand, she knows it’s a sign.
She dreams up a plan to hide the girl in her bedroom closet convinced that the girl will be able to protect her family from tragedy. But signs aren’t always what they seem and the girl may have something more valuable to offer than luck.
Review
Okay, Joss and Lizzy’s are really sweet and the whole idea of selling cat sweaters is a great (if misguided) one. I mean, it’s pointed out throughout the book that cats are not sweater wearers. But they come to a solution eventually, and their earnest attempt to try and help the animals of their community is sweet. Even if they have things a bit wrong at first.
Joss and Lizzy also can’t help but help Charlotte, the runaway girl. The plot of her living in Lizzy’s closet would only work in a book. But it’s sweet and the way the two bond over being in shared space really makes the heart of the story.
I also really love when Joss teaches Charlotte how to knit and she helps with the sweaters.
The whole concept of signs is really important throughout the book, but I think what’s more important is how easily they can be misinterpreted. Lizzy takes the clover on Charlotte’s hand as good luck, Charlotte thinks Lizzy is good luck. Things happen when people leave or things don’t go as planned, but as Lizzy finds out it’s more how you respond to the curveballs life throws at you than trying to predict every little thing.
Though it’s never mentioned by name I think Lizzy has a little bit of OCD or PTSD, related to a car accident her family got into. Her thing with signs could be simply a deep focus on superstition but it’s the emotional value she places on them that makes me think its something more.
Lizzy has OCD and PTSD sign of wanting to be in control of everything. She also has a bit of self-blame for the accident her family got into, leading me towards the OCD route, since thinking you can control everything is often a symptom of OCD. I’m not saying she has a full diagnosis, it could simply be related to the accident that happened with her family. Later in the book especially after a conversation she has, she’s able to let things go a little bit.
In the end, I think Lizzy is simply trying to control things because she hasn’t had a chance to talk about what happened with her family and their car wreck. Meeting Charlotte and getting a chance to talk things out finally give her the emotional freedom she’s been searching for, she also does the same thing for Charlotte with her issues with her family, resulting in a happy ending for both parties. \
Overall this was a cute book, it had some serious themes and a few bits of plot that would only work in a book, but I’d give it a solid 4 stars!
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![Lizzy and the Good Luck Girl by [Lubner, Susan]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511YXH5yK4L.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)