Here’s our set of mini reviews this week!

Shari’s Minis:

"Hilarious and charming. The most lovable duo since Frog and Toad." --NYT-bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, Dav Pilkey

Narwhal and Jelly . . . and Otty?! Exuberant Narwhal and skeptical Jelly test the waters of adding a new friend to their pod when they meet Otty the super-adventurous otter in the fourth book of this blockbuster early graphic novel series!

Dive into three new stories about the joy of adventure and the power of friendship! In the first story, Otty the otter makes her debut splash; while Narwhal greets her with immediate enthusiasm, Jelly's not so sure about her...mostly because he worries she'll take his place as Narwhal's best friend. Readers will easily see why Narwhal's so excited to meet Otty, a boisterous explorer who even has an aunt who's a real live sea captain! But readers will also relate to Jelly's uneasiness seeing his best friend making a new pal.

Jelly tries to work out his jealousy in story two, and in story three, the new trio say "Ahoy, adventure!" and discover they all have more in common than they thought . . . including a love of waffles! Jelly also takes over the "Super Waffle and Strawberry Sidekick" comic providing a sidekick's-eye-view of defeating the dreaded dEVILed egg!

I haven’t participated in a reading challenge in a long time but YEAR. OF. THE. ASIAN. How can I not sign up?!

What’s Year of the Asian, Shari?

I’m glad you asked, friend!

Year of the Asian (YARC) is a reading challenge hosted by four amazing book bloggers: CW from The Quiet Pond, Shealea at Shut up, Shealea, Vicky at Vicky Who Reads, and Lily at Sprinkles of Dreams. The goal of this challenge is to read as many books by Asian authors from January 2019 to December 2019. Since Asian lit is near and dear to my heart, I’m going to READ ALL THE BOOKS. From middle grade, YA, to adult fiction/non-fiction across all genres, I want to be intentional about reading them all. :’) *cue Pokémon theme*

If you’re interested in joining this reading challenge, sign up by filling out this form and find all the relevant links for this challenge here. You can join ANY time and it’s never too late to start!

Happy Release Day to The Gilded Wolves! 🎉

If you follow me on any of my social media accounts, you may have seen me talk about this book in all its green and gold gorgeousness. I absolutely loved this book. Kirkus calls it “an opulent heist adventure that will leave readers voracious for more” and I’m officially one of those readers. 🙋🏻‍♀️

If you’re curious about whether or not this book is for you, I’m here at your service! Here’s my spoiler-free review:

Welcome to our first Monday Minis! We’ve decided to create this little blog meme to create space for mini reviews — the reviews that don’t quite warrant a full post but are just as important. 💛 You’re welcome to join us! All you have to do is post your mini reviews on Mondays and that’s it!

So without further ado, here are the first Minis!