Music Monday
Belladonna by FAUN
I’m Still Here (Treasure Planet) by Colm R. McGuinness
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Just Finished
My latest finished read is A Matter of Execution and it’s a prequel novella and a heist story at the same time. The audiobook is narrated by Nicholas Atwater (one of the authors) and he did such a fantastic job. About 5 minutes in, I was so impressed with the way he was inhabiting the main character that I looked him up. It turns out he describes himself as an “ex-thespian” and honestly, that explains a lot! This was a fun steampunk adventure and I’m interested in reading more Tales of the Iron Rose.
Currently Reading



I’m slowly reading Doppelganger with a nonfiction buddy read group. At the same time I’m behind on my ARC for Human Scars on Planet Skin 😓. That one came out a week ago so I’m just hoping to finish it ASAP but I am enjoying it. I’ve also got The House Witch going as an audio and while I am finding it cozy, I’m only 25% along and it feels too long for the kind of book it is. I’m enjoying it in some ways but also finding it annoying in other ways so I’ll keep going and see how I feel. 🤷🏼♀️
Up Next

Next up, I’ll be jumping into a buddy read of Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms.
On The Blog Recently
Bookish Lists:
– 10 Anticipated Releases to Look Forward to in Autumn 2025
BBNYA:
– BBNYA 2025: 6 Books That Stood Out to Me But Didn’t Make it to the Semi-Finals
Cover Reveal:
– Cover Reveal & Spotlight: A Tempest of Ravens by E. A. Bard
Stacking The Shelves
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, whether it be physical or virtual. Reading Reality posts on Saturdays but you can post any day that works for you— don’t forget to visit the link-up on Saturday to join in on the fun!
I have a healthier stack to shelf this week which includes a birthday present, a giveaway I won, publisher mail, and library books. I had requested Wearing The Lion from the publisher but I didn’t expect to receive it so I was pleasantly surprised when DAW Books kindly mailed me a copy! I hope to read and review it soon! I also won a giveaway from a friend on Bookstagram and got the two first volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, which I keep hearing amazing things about! And I received The Tropic of Serpents (the second Lady Trent memoir book) for my birthday back in August!







Current Library Borrows
- Rebis: Born and Reborn by Irene Marchesini & Carlotta Dicataldo
- Over The Garden Wall, Vol. 1 by Pat McHale & Jim D. Campbell
- Over The Garden Wall, Vol. 2 by Pat McHale & Jim D. Campbell
Book Mail
- Wearing The Lion by John Wiswell
- The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower
- The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2 by Beth Brower
Let’s chat in the comments!
What book are you currently reading? If you participated in any of these memes this week, feel free to leave your link and I’ll visit your post 🖤!






My parents got their kitchen done just over a year ago so I kind of relate to how major a change it seems to be. Its stunning now though and I love the colour 😍 I hope it all goes well for your parents.
I know neither song, again, but the second seems catchy. I’ve never seen Treasure Planet though. I think I’ve said before how terrible I am at keeping uk with animated movies 🙈
I’ve got a few books by Olivia Atwater on my TBR and i believe I have one by the author duo too but that it never came out in the end 🤔 im glad you enjoyed this one though. Im sorry to hear that The House Witch is a bit of a mixed bag for you and good luck getting your qrc finished soon ❤️
Oh wow thats so exciting about Wearing The Lion!! Let me know what it’s like as im very intrigued by that title myself. Im glad you got Gifted the next Lady Trent book too and won a giveaway, how wonderful 🥰 I’ve got no birthday books so far but im hoping I can find something on Vinted to treat myself to soon 😂
I hope you have a great month ❤️
Oh wow what a coincidence! I’m so glad the new kitchen turned out amazing, what colour did they use? Thanks so much.
Ah yes the second song is catchy right? Okay, Treasure Planet is such an underrated Disney movie, it’s a retelling of Treasure Island but more sci-fi/ traveling to another planet. If you’re ever in a early 2000s animated movie mood, I highly recommend it.
Ah nice, yes I also have other Olivia Atwater books on my tbr and after reading this one I am excited to get to them as I really enjoyed the writing style. Oh no, do you rememeber which one it was by the duo that you had? Now I’m super curious>
Thanks and it’s ok, I ended up DNFing The House Witch after all.
Yes I will let you know for sure and yes I got way more new physical books than I normally do recently hahah 🙂
Ahh I hope you find something on Vinted too, then!
Happy September to you too, Charlotte 🖤
Its blue, so very different to how it used to look as we had wooden cupboards for year. I can send a photo on Instagram if you want.
Ooh that sounds like an intriguing combination, especially as sci fi is always something I want to try more of. Mostly as books but movies could be good too. I’ll have to let you know what I think when I watch it.
Yay thats wondeful 🥰🥰Not off the top of my head but I’ll look on my list later and see if I can find it. I’ll send the answer over on Instagram if I find out.
Oh no I’m sorry to hear that. But if it wasn’t working for you it sounds like the right choice.
Yay thats wonderful 🥰🥰 and thank you, I still need to look 🙈 I’ve been spending way too much time and catch up again and putting everything else off as a result. Besides cross stitch, I have kept going with that too
Thank you ❤️
Ah okay, blue is a nice colour and oh nice, if you have pics I wouldn’t say no 😉!
Yes if anything a movie might give you a taste of the genre which then might inspire you to pick up a book? And yes please I’d love to know what you think of it.
Alright & no problem if you don’t remember/find out.
Yeah, definitely it was the right call for me so it’s ok.
Thank you and that’s fair I’m sure Vinted will still be there when you’re ready and at least you’ve managed to keep up with the cross stitch, I’ve started a new one now too, just working on gridding my fabric first!
I completely forgot to send them. I’m just trying to figure out what I need to reply to from you still then I’ll send a photo over on Instagram.
That’s very true, movies are good for trying out genres too. And I do usually enjoy sci fi ones when I actually get around to watching them 😂
I did look but I couldnt find it which is strange 🤔
I mostly finished mine but stopped on the sky 🙈 definitely hope to finish it this month.
Ooh what’s your new one of? Good luck with it.
That’s okay! You’re literally the sweetest and I truly appreciate all of the effort you put in to being social with so many people on here and in commenting on so many of my posts. So know that if you ever don’t feel like replying to something or don’t have time to send pics I won’t be upset at all!! 🥰
I’m glad you enjoy sci-fi movies when you get a chance to watch them 🙂
Oh nice good luck with finishing your cross stitch, a sky is tough to do if there isn’t enough variety coz I tend to get bored of the large area of same colours haha.
My new one is of a video game scene my husband asked me to make.
Aww thanks 🥰 its not surprising that I pushed myself to the verge of meltdown with how much I was trying to do at the start of the year tbh 🙈 and i remembered to send them in the rnd at least 😂
I havent done as much as I’d hope but I’ll finish it off soon. Its the outlining I find trickiest 😅ooh cool, I hope it goes well 🥰 I look forward to seeing the end result.
Thanks for linking up with me! I was just listening to some of Faun’s new album earlier today – great minds think alike! 😁
My pleasure and oh my gosh seriously? That is too funny!! Great minds DO think alike 😉😆!
Wearing the Lion is one I’d love to hear more about. Congrats on your review copy, enjoy!
Thanks so much and I will definitely write a review when I get to that one 😀 !
Over the garden wall looks cute – off to see if I can borrow from library. And can’t remember what I heard about the Klein. I think she’s shifted away from the Beauty Myth…my memory is bad. Will google. #BookDate
Heheh I hope your library has it too, these ones are mini stories of new adventures set after the tv show. Well funny you should mention that, this one is by Naomi Klein and it’s all about her doppelganger experience with Noami Wolf (Who, yes has moved away from The Beauty Myth and is pretty much a conspiracy theorist now 🥴).
Happy reading 🙂
It is strange to see your childhood home renovated and changed, but excited for sure! We renovated our kitchen in Southern California about a year before we moved, but it had been about 20 yrs with the same kitchen so I was definitely ready for the change! Love the cute, fun covers of Over the Garden Wall. I’ll look up the series. Have a wonderful week!
Yeah it is odd but I can’t wait to see what it will look like and make new family memories. Oh wow yes I can understand being ready for a change 🙂 Yes, They’re additional adventures of what happens after the Over The Garden Wall TV show, one of my favourites during the autumn season! Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful week too 😀!
I’m really curious about Wearing the Lion, I have it on my wishlist! Hope you enjoy.
Ahh I hope you get Wearing The Lion off your wishlist then and I am looking forward to reading it 🙂 ! Thanks for stopping by, Nicky 😀
I didn’t expect Doppelganger to be nonfic, I got so curious and checked out the description on GR and I am very intrigued! I would love to be a fly on the wall during your buddy read group discussion!
To be honest when it got picked for book club I didn’t know what the heck it was about. It’s interesting and I’m actually surprised at myself for reading it given that I didn’t know much about her before!
I have heard of Klein’s book, but haven’t read any you listed today. Enjoy!
That’s fair & have you read anything else by Klein before? Thanks so much for visiting, Emma 🙂
We chnaged our kitchen less than a year ago and the prep was a lot of work but in the end so worth it!
OOf, based on the bit I helped move stuff around I totally believe you, it was a lot of work but an updated kitchen is a definite upgrade for sure, especially since having a working oven makes a massive difference! 🙂
My apologies for being so late to comment, after you kindly visited my blog. I’ve been sick off and on for a month. Finally determined it is likely a food allergy. 🙄
OMG Belladonna is so pretty! The video is rich and the harmonies compelling. I added Doppelgänger to my TBR list. Thanks for putting your link in the comment you left me. It makes life so much easier.
No problem at all, Olivia! I hope you’re feeling better now and food allergies can certainly be annoying, though I hope that having answers will help :)!
Right? I think Belladonna is so pretty too, glad you liked the song! I’m finding Doppelganger interesting but I’m only reading one bit at a time, I hope you like it too! & My pleasure, sometimes I feel awkward leaving my link but I know some people appreciate it so why not! 🙂