Hey bookworm friends, I feel like I haven’t been reading as much as I wanted to in August and the month is almost over. That’s probably because my current read is a chonker and I’ve sadly gotten out of the habit of reading long books. Dang, short attention span! I’m working on that. Anyway, this seems like the perfect time to participate in a bunch of Friday Bookish Memes!
Today’s Friday Bookish Memes Are:
- Book Beginnings on Fridays Hosted by Rose City Reader
- The Friday 56 Hosted by Head Full of Books
- Friday Face-Off Hosted by Lynn’s Books
- Let’s Talk Bookish Hosted by Book Nook Bits
Book Beginnings on Fridays
Book Beginnings on Fridays asks us to share the opening sentence (or so) of the book we’re reading this week.
I’m currently reading There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool
“In the moonlit room overlooking the City of Faith, a priest knelt before Ephyra and begged for his life.”
There Will Come A Darkness, Katy Rose Pool
The first line paints quite a scene! So we’re in the City of Faith and coupled with the fact there’s a priest, I sensed some religious or perhaps cultish overtones to the story. A surprisingly violent start but it grabbed my attention. Who is Ephyra and why does she have power over this priest?
The Friday56
Here are the rules for this meme: Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56%, and share a snippet (but please no spoilers). Then head over to Head Full of Books’ post to link up!
I haven’t made it to 56% of the book yet, it’s still early days but luckily I did get to page 56. Let’s see what teaser I can find for you 😉
“The Temple of Pallas used to welcome pilgrims from all over the Pelagos into the agora. How is this any different?”
Excerpt from There Will Come A Darkness, Katy Rose Pool
“Because it’s been a hundred years since there were pilgrims in Pallas Athos…The priests are no longer interested in anything but protecting their own wealth and power.”
Friday Face Off
Friday Face Off was created by Books By Proxy but is now hosted by Lynn’s Books. I’m unsure how active this meme is but Lynn invites us to compare book covers. Pick a book that has alternative covers to showcase then choose your favourite. Stop by Lynn’s blog for her latest Face Off or past Face Offs.
I’m going with a book I read this summer and comparing the self-pub cover to the trad pub cover. It’s That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming.
I like both covers. Overall I like the character details more from option 2 although I’m not a fan of the horn placements there. I wish the pink hair on option 1 was more obvious but I feel the art style and setting of the field matches the tone of the book better with option 1. I also like the pose of the characters more with Cinnamon’s hand on Fallon’s face, very cute.
And the Winner is: Option 1
Let’s Talk Bookish
Let’s Talk Bookish is a meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. The topics for each month will be posted on Book Nook Bits one month in advance. Take a look at August’s prompts if you want to join in on the fun!
Do you consider yourself a mood reader?
Prompts: Are you constantly switching books and genres depending on your mood? Or do you always stick to a very specific TBR? If you’re a mood reader, do you ever wish you could better stick to TBRs?
I used to think I wasn’t a mood reader because I love making lists. But here’s the thing: I am so bad at sticking to lists. Whenever I make a TBR list, I start starry-eyed with the best intentions but then other books just happen. I’d LOVE to follow the list without getting distracted but I think at this point in my life I need to accept it ain’t gonna happen. But that won’t stop me from trying 🙃.
In terms of how I pick my reads, I always try to have an audiobook going and a print book going. From there I’ll add more if I feel like I need to. A few examples of when I will add more are:
- If I’m working on a slow read I need a faster one on the side
- If I’m in a graphic novel mood
- If I’m doing a buddy read
- If a library deadline or ARC deadline is coming up and I need to rush
The verdict is in: I think I am a mood reader after all…😭I think I’m just shocked because I didn’t used to be. When I was a kid I could stick to a list and inhale a whole series back to back. But then again I didn’t have GoodReads, Booktube, or Bookstagram then. I think the overwhelming amount of choice at any given moment and a social-media attention span have ruined me lol. And we’ve looped…isn’t that how I started this whole post?😂 I’m gonna go read now.
More of my posts with the tag “Book Blog Memes” can be found here.
Let’s chat in the comments!
What are you currently reading? Or, which cover did you like better? 🖤
That’s a lot of memes! Can definitely identify with being a mood reader.
I’m currently reading….a lot. At lunch I’m reading “Miss Benson’s Beetle”, and otherwise I’m flitting between “Hotter than the Sun: Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” and “Family Unfriendly”. I also just picked up a KU title that seemed hilarious, “Titanic with Zombies”. I like that they’re not bothering with a fancy title, just telling you up what you’re in for.
A tease from the 56% marker:
“Lightoller looked down the remains of Abigail Barnes outside the broken-down door to the general room. The infected had cleaned almost every inch of flesh off her body, leaving behind an old, frail skeleton slouched in a slop of blood.”
It’s Meme City! I find there are so many on Fridays that I prefer to clump them together in a hodgepodge 🙂 Glad you can relate as it’s kind of a relatively new thing I learned about myself lol.
Oh I can’t wait to see what you think of Miss Benson’s Beetle as it’s on my list. Those all sound interesting though 🙂 Titanic with Zombies? I loved the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie so I may actually love that. Lol saves us time doesn’t it😂 Disgusting…and seems great for the upcoming scary season! 😁Thanks, Stephen!
I allllmost finished it at lunch. I’m enjoying it — not on the level of The Music Shop or Harold Fry, but it’s an interesting story with a unique setting.
I’m not sure how I stumbled upon “Titanic with Zombies”….I think I was searching for information about the Olympic/Titanic conspiracy theory and wound up on Amazon perusing any Titanic books!
Oh nice okay that’s great to know 🙂 Sounds like a lovely story!
That’s so random but I’ll take it! That’s how you stumble on unexpected things sometimes and I’m glad you passed the info along!
I hope you manage to get back into reading big books and get to read as much as you hope to. I don’t feel like I’m getting much read lately either. The start of There Will Come A Darkness is certainly intriguing too. I love a book with a strong first line. They tend to stick with you. That second segment looks intriguing too. I’m definitely going to have to read my copy sometime. I can’t believe I forgot about it 🙈
With the cover comparison I think I prefer option 2 but then that’s without having read the story. I can’t really comment on what suits it best, I just love the colour scheme of the background on that one. The softer style of option one gives me more cosy vibes?
I think I’m probably somewhere in-between being a TBRer and mood reader. I tend to read series in one go and sometimes have little lists in my mind to get through but I never really set what I’ll pick up next into stone. Except from when it comes to prioritising arcs or focusing on library stacks. Its lovely that you can valance multiple books at once though. I have decided that next time I struggle with a book I may read another at the same time though.
I finally started Medea last night and am looking forward to reading more of it tonight hopefully. I’d say it has one of those first lines that makes you want to know more too:
‘When I was a child I turned my brother into a pig.’
Thanks so much I certainly hope so too 🙂 Life gets busy doesn’t it haha. I hope you enjoy There Will Come a Darkness too and I can’t even blame you for forgetting it because there are just so many books to keep track of! lol
Yeah option 2 is really pretty, both are great covers to be fair 🙂 That’s super valid. I appreciate the extra character details that the art style allows for, like all the pleats and wrinkles in the fabric!
I feel like somewhere in between mood reader and tbr reader is such a nice place to be, you get a bit of the best of both worlds that way! And it is important to be flexible for sure to balance so many different priorities. It’ll be interesting to see how you feel about reading more than one book at the same time if you do try that next time.
Oh lovely, Medea sounds so good I hope you get to make some nice progress with it 🙂 AHAHA I love that first line right away! I have so many follow-up questions lmao but I suppose I’ll have to check it out myself 😛
Yeah it does tend to at times. Thank you 🥰 I’ve noticed I have a tendency at times to obsess over a book until I get it, then I forget it 🙈 I’m better with preorders as I said but others yeah 😅
They are both pretty (: and that’s very true about those details.
That’s true and gives you a fair bit of flexibility with options at times. I’ll let you know if/when I try it. Hopefully it’ll go well 🤞
Thank you, I’m really enjoying it so far. And I’m glad it intrigued you 😂 definitely an unexpected beginning. I do love lines that pull you in like that.
Oh yeah I’m the same, that’s so funny. I guess once we have it, it’s almost like now we’re unbothered because it’s not going anywhere 😆
Okay I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it goes well for you 🙂
Oh, I have another friend who really loves Medea so I gave her the rec of this book thanks to you 🙂
I’m glad it’s not just me then 😂 and I think that’s probably what it is as you no longer have to remember to find a copy. Plus unlike library books it shouldn’t disappear from your shelf.
Thank you.
Oh wow I hope she enjoys it then. I don’t really know her story so I’m intrigued to find it out. There’s also one by Eilish Quin which I heard of first but the library don’t have that one. I think its probably not gotten a UK publisher yet tbh as I’ve only seen it on Amazon in hardback.
Yeah that’s it exactly haha!
Oh cool I had not heard of the Eilish Quin one before either, cool! Thanks 🙂
There Will Come A Darkness looks good. The first line really does grab your attention. It’s a great hook.
Yes so far I’m enjoying it 🙂 It definitely hooked me!
I was just thinking about how my reading habits have changed, too. I used to be able to read 50-100 pages each night when I’d go to bed, especially if the book was exciting. Now, even if there is palpable excitement I still can only read 10-15 pages tops before my eyes start closing and I’m ready for sleep. I still enjoy listening to audiobooks but now that I am retired I don’t spend as much time in my car so it takes longer to finish audiobooks, too. And then I start not liking the books I’m reading because I am reading them so slowly it is hard to get any traction. I tell you this to commiserate with your frustration about reading big books. I’m with you on that one!
Thanks for joining up on Friday56.
Yeah time is wreaking havoc with our reading habits it seems haha but oh well at least we’re still reading and that’s the important part ♥!
Ah that makes sense, I fully understand that. Thank you, I do feel that the commiserations help 🤗
My pleasure, thanks for hosting!
This sounds really good. That first line really grabbed my attention. Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a wonderful week! 🙂
Yeah it’s an attention grabbing line! & I’m enjoying the read so far 🙂 Thanks, I hope you have a great week too. & happy reading!
Thanks for joining in with Friday Face Off. I love your choice, that’s been a very popular book and I definitely prefer the second cover, although I hadn’t noticed the horn placement – which is a bit odd. The first cover makes me think it would be a graphic novel for some reason. The second looks cosy and steamy all in one.
Mood reading – it depends, sometimes I definitely have to just go for a little of what I fancy. More recently I’ve been trying to get ahead with review books and fortunately been having some good reads which is keeping me on track.
Lynn 😀
My pleasure, thanks for stopping by to check it out 🙂 & yes the second cover is quite nice too 🙂 The book is cozy and steamy so that’s true but it also has a quirkiness to it 🙂 !
That’s fair & I’m glad you’ve been having good reads to keep you on track, that always helps haha 😄 Much harder to stick to the list if the books are uninspiring for sure.