I remember a few years ago, everyone was into the whole Six Degrees of Separation thing. It’s basically the idea that everyone is connected to any other person by six connections or fewer. I haven’t heard people talk about it in a while but I recently found the book version of it! Emma Chapman and Annabel Smith created #6DEGREES, where book bloggers share links between books in six moves. Here are the rules if you want to join in! Basically they choose a starting book and then you make your own chain however you want.

Today’s starting point is……How to be both by Ali Smith! (You’ll have to read all the way to the end to see where I end up 😉)

March has been such a busy month for me (Mackenzie) and I haven’t been able to read much. So it’s been quite a while since our last Monday Minis post, but now we’re back at it!

Mackenzie’s Minis

In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.

I dunno! I was really enjoying this up until the second boy was introduced and then for some reason I just couldn’t get over it and didn’t enjoy the second part as much. I VERY MUCH like the beginning – the description of Thia dealing with depression and having trouble communicating that to other people. I feel that on a deep level as someone who also struggles with depression. I thought it was really well done. I also love the concept of the different types of magical crows that have different powers that help the kingdom run (water, healing, storms, etc). Also what can I say, I’m a complete sucker for enemies-to-lovers so I loved the Ericen/Thia interactions. I also have a soft spot for snarky/asshole boys that are really a bit soft on the inside. That’s probably not the greatest in terms of real life but whatever I’m rambling. I just!! When Caylus or whatever his name is was introduced….ugh. I hate love triangles goddamnit. Pick one relationship and focus on it! I don’t mean the character, I mean just in terms of writing I’d just like to see better developed relationships and I felt like absolutely nothing for Caylus other than “ooo he’s pretty”. UHGHGHGH>. I think I will probably read the sequel when it comes out, as I did enjoy this one. It’s just not super high up anymore. I do think many people will love this though!!

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

From New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi comes The Gilded Wolves, a novel set in Paris during a time of extraordinary change—one that is full of mystery, decadence, and dangerous desires...

No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.

Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history—but only if they can stay alive.

I read this on an airplane a few weeks ago so my thoughts aren’t fresh but man do I love heist stories!!! I really liked getting to know each character, and their special talents. I loved the brother dynamic between Severin and Tristan. I’ve also read The Star Touched Queen (by the same author) and I liked this one way more – the writing in this was gorgeous, but not over the top like I felt it was in TSTQ. There were some THINGS that happened at the end that I wasn’t expecting, but they worked really well and now I can’t wait for the sequel! Diverse and lovely and fun – would recommend.

Going back and thinking about it more, I feel like through the book I wasn’t really sure where the story was going. It was enjoyable while reading but it still felt a bit muddled.

Also, check out Shari’s review here! It’s much more in depth than my little mini review.

Shari’s Minis

The eighteen poems that comprise Malene Engelund’s debut pamphlet, The Wild Gods, reveal a distinctly Nordic imagination, punctured with rich colour, shadows and light.

Here are letters, portraits and prayers, composed with an almost painterly precision. Searching and clear-eyed, each poem a compact saga that revives folklore and extends it into the present, Engelund’s wild gods take their places between borders: of home and belonging, darkness and dawn, the silenced and the lost.

I don’t read poetry collections often because they’re usually a hit or miss for me. The Wild Gods is probably the first collection I’ve felt this strongly about. It’s rich in beautiful lines and imagery and I was often in awe of how Engelund came up with them. I loved that the poems weren’t too short or too long and recommend this collection to anyone who may be interested in reading more from this genre.

What have you been reading lately?

Sometimes I feel like I’m going to be CRUSHED by the sheer number of books I have on my TBR. I don’t know if you remember but one of my goals for the year was to read all the books I own that I haven’t read yet, and I’ve been slowly working on that. So these Spring 2019 TBR books are all ones that I already own that I want to get to soon!

And thank you to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting/organizing Top Ten Tuesday!

Have you discovered any new favorite authors recently? I HAVE. Thanks to @xcrini (on Instagram; also here on Twitter), recommending her books all the time, I finally read and fell in love with Katrina Leno. It actually messed up my February wrap up, because I read both Summer of Salt and Everything All at Once on the last day of February after I had already published my wrap up, oops. They were just THAT GOOD that I had to read them both in one sitting. And like, look at those covers?!??! THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL.

Shockingly we have come to the end of another month, and so it’s once again time for Shari and I to share our wrap-up for the month! I know February is only 3 days shorter than January but it still feels like February went by 10x as fast as January did. I’m an astrophysicist so theoretically I should know how time works but lemme tell you, I can’t explain this haha.

Mackenzie’s reads:

I didn’t read as much as in January, but I still managed to read 6 books! I also started reading a few bigger novels, so though I didn’t finish those I’ve been slowly working my way through them.

Finished reads:

• Lab Girl by Hope Jahren || 4/5 ⭐️ || Review
• For the Killing of Kings by Howard Andrew Jones || 4/5 ⭐️ || Review
• Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab || 5/5 ⭐️ || Review
• Isola, Vol. 1 by Brenden Fletcher || 4/5 ⭐️ || Review
• Dark Run by Mike Brooks || 4/5 ⭐️ || Review
• Circe by Madeline Miller || 4/5 ⭐️ || Review

As you can see I had a pretty good month! All 4 star ratings with the exception of one 5 star read. No surprise that it was a Schwab book that was my 5 star read – I love her!! I had a decent spread of genres – non-fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and graphic novel. I also read both YA and adult novels. I like changing it up and reading across different genres and age ranges.

Current reads:

• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I’ve been meaning to read LOTR for….well years really but it was one of my 2018 goals that I didn’t end up getting to. So I made it one of my 2019 goals! I’ve been making a great start so far, and hopefully I can finish Fellowship soon as my friend really wants to read The Two Towers together very soon (hi u know who u are – I’m working on it ok).

Both LOTR and Pride and Prejudice are books with movie adaptations where I’ve actually seen the movie before reading the books – shocking I know. So I’m finally reading Pride and Prejudice as well! I’ve been listening to the audiobook, and it’s working out pretty well. I think it actually helps that I saw the movie first, because I can picture the different scenes in my mind when listening to the book.

Wuthering Heights was supposed to be a buddy read with my friend Cat and my mom, but they finished it and I’m way behind oops. So far I don’t like any of the characters haha but somehow, I’m still enjoying reading it. It’s also my friend’s favorite book, so I had to read it at some point (hi u).

All three are going a bit slower for me than normal, since the latter two are much older classics and I’m not used that writing style (I barely ever read classics, though I’m trying to read a bit more). Tolkien’s writing is also quite different than my usual fast paced SFF reads. He has a lot more detail, and the story is more drawn out. Overall though, I’m enjoying all three a lot!

Shari’s reads:

February has been one heck of a month for me so it comes to no surprise that I didn’t read as much as I usually do. I read some fantastic books though, which is the most important thing!

• The Test by Sylvain Neuvel 5/5 ⭐️ | Review
• Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee 3/5 ⭐️ | Review
• My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 4.5/5 ⭐️ | Review
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 5/5 ⭐️ | RTC
• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman 3.5/5 ⭐️ | Review

With 3 favourite books in February, I’d say it’s been a very good reading month. I absolutely loved The Test, My Sister, and On the Come Up and I highly recommend them to everyone! These books were so good! I still haven’t written a review for OTCU because I do this thing where the more I love a book, the less I’m able to say about it. Helpful, right? 😂 I’m still planning to review it though (I wrote notes!) so look out for that in the coming weeks.

Let’s chat!

• Have you read any of the books we read this month? If not, do you think you’ll read any of them?
• How did February go for you? Did you discover any favourite reads?