Hey'a, friends! As you may have seen, this year, Jenelle Leanne Schmidt brought back February is Fantasy Month, a month-long celebration of all things fantasy! This includes daily posts over on her site, a blog post linkup, giveaways, and an Instagram challenge. And because I love both fantasy and prompts that help me figure out what to post about, I'm borrowing today's Instagram topic, fantasy subgenres, for today's post. Now, I've met very few fantasy subgenres I don't enjoy . . . but I definitely like some more than others, so today, I'm sharing my top five favorites (roughly in order), along with some recommendations in each of those subgenres. 

As a note, I am not including fairy tale retellings as a subgenre because any fairy tale retelling is necessarily also at least one other subgenre. Not that some of these other subgenres don't overlap, but they don't have to overlap, you know? With that out of the way, let's get on with the list.

February Is Fantasy Month:
Favorite Fantasy Subgenres

1. Fantasy mystery. That this makes the top of the list shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Before I discovered fantasy, I devoured mystery books like they were going out of style. It took me a surprisingly long time to discover that the two can be combined — but once I did, I was delighted. The only thing better than a good whodunnit is a good whodunnit in which the culprit might be a dragon and the detective a wizard. Or, you know, vise versa. I am 100% on board with dragon detectives, and if anyone knows of a good such book (other than A Tale of Two Castles), please tell me so I can read it.
   If you want to read this, try . . . The Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell was the first fantasy-mystery I encountered, and it has both some very well-crafted mysteries and a really fun dynamic between the two main characters, Michael (a would-be knight errant with a sense of honor to match) and Fisk (a former thief and con artist with a better heart than he lets on). It's more low fantasy, but if you want something more magical, try The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, which includes dragons, fae, alternate dimensions, and librarian-spies. And, of course, I have to mention my all-time favorite fantasy mystery, Masque by W.R. Gingell, which turns Beauty and the Beast into a murder mystery.
2. Epic fantasy. While I read less of this than I used to, I still love it. Epic fantasy (especially quest-based epic fantasy) is where I learned to love the genre, and it contains many of the stories that make my heart sing. The greatest heroes and the darkest villains are often found here, and so is some of the most magnificent worldbuilding in all fantasy.
   If you want to read this, try . . . The obvious recommendations here are Tolkien and Sanderson, and I love both of them — The Lord of the Rings was one of the subgenre originators, and The Stormlight Archive is one of the most epic of epic fantasies I've ever read. But Tolkien and Sanderson are also both long and well-known, and so I also want to include a couple more obscure recommendations. Moonscript by H.S.J. Williams is a beautiful, thrilling tale of adventure, salvation, friendship, and the battle between light and darkness, with notes of both The Lord of the Rings and The Tales of Goldstone Wood. And speaking of Goldstone Wood, I love the whole series, but Golden Daughter is both the most epic and one of my favorites in that series.
3. Heist fantasy. Much like fantasy mystery, heist fantasy takes an already awesome genre (who doesn't love a really clever, exciting heist/con story?) and makes it better via the addition of magic, magical beings, and fantastical locations. If you've ever watched Leverage and thought "you know what this needs? a dragon. or a vampire," then you and I are on the same page. On one hand, imagine the schemes a crew can pull when their team could include wizards, fae, or even dragons! On the other hand, imagine the schemes they'll have to come up with when their mark can read minds or famously has (or is) a dragon guarding his treasure! (Oh, wait, that's just The Hobbit. Though that one worked out more due to luck than any clever scheming on Bilbo and the dwarves' part . . .) While I haven't read a ton in this genre, I've enjoyed 95% of what I have read, so it definitely makes the favorites list.
   If you want to read this, try . . . So, I can't get you Leverage with a dragon, but I can get you Leverage with a vampire (or, well, ex-vampire) in the form of Miss Dark's Apparitions by Suzannah Rowntree. I absolutely love this crew of inventors, schemers, and con artists, both for their adventures and for the interactions and dynamics between them. (Obviously, if you want something a little more epic, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows are both also excellent. But y'all probably know about those already.)
4. Portal fantasy. Portal fantasy seems to be out of style at the moment — or, at least, I don't see very much of it — which is tragic, as it's so fun. It has all the benefits of epic fantasy, but with the additional plus that you're experiencing everything alongside someone who's as new to it as you are. And, of course, there's all kinds of interesting things you can do with the tension of feeling caught between two worlds, with adapting to back home after your adventure, and so forth.
   If you want to read this, try . . . Probably my favorite portal fantasy (outside of Narnia) is the Legends of Karac Tor by D. Barkley Briggs, a Christian series that blends elements of Norse, Celtic, Welsh, Arthurian, and Native American mythology in its worldbuilding — plus, it has fantastic characters, lots of family dynamics, and a fantastic storytelling voice. Brandon Mull's Beyonders is another excellent trilogy that plays with some tropes and includes some very unique worldbuilding elements. Also, while it's not exactly portal fantasy (more time travel), Kari Maaren's Weave a Circle Round has a lot in common with the subgenre, lots of references to literature and legends, and absolutely no romance.
5. Urban, Historical & Gothic fantasy. I'm combining these three for two reasons. Urban and historical fantasy fit together because I love them both for the same reasons: I enjoy seeing the way authors weave together magic and magical beings with reality, coming up with wondrous secrets behind even the most mundane matters. As for the Gothic fantasy, most of this subgenre is also historical fantasy. Plus, many of my favorite historical fantasies are also Gothic — it's that extra edge of darkness, creepiness, and mystery that makes everything more exciting and provides opportunities for light and redemption to show up even better. That said, these elements do have to be used in moderation, which is where a lot of urban fantasy especially goes wrong.
   If you want to read this, try . . . For urban fantasy, you know I have to recommend W.R. Gingell's City Between. (No surprises there; I yell about it every few months, it seems.) For historical fantasy, try . . . well, literally anything by Suzannah Rowntree, but also Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, a multi-faceted Rumplestiltskin retelling set in Russia. And if you're after some Gothic fantasy, you can go cozy with The Secrets of Ormdale series by Christina Baehr, or you can aim dark and romantic with Black and Deep Desires by Claire Trella Hill.

What are your favorite fantasy subgenres, and what books in those subgenres do you especially recommend? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Books Full of Delicious: The Pie Book Tag!

Hey'a, everyone! It's the day after Thanksgiving, and we all know what that means — well, we know three things specifically. First: it's the first day on which you can reasonably play Christmas music in public. Second: it's the first day of holiday sales (or "sales," depending on where you shop). Third: it's the day on which, if you're lucky, you get to eat an abundance of leftover pie! I covered the first a couple years ago, and I'm taking care of the second over on Light and Shadows. That just leaves the third . . . which I'm taking care of with the Pie Book Tag, created by Emma over at Awkwordly Emma! I love this tag, since it basically combines two of my favorite things, and I'm super excited to go through it!

The Pie Book Tag!

Caramel Apple: A book that reminds you of fall!

For some reason, Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren feels like a very fall-ish book. Something about the emphasis on change and transition and tension between past and present and future makes me think autumn. 

 Pumpkin: A book with a great family (biological or found).

Here's a series that I don't talk about half as much as I used to (or as much as it deserves): The Legends of Karac Tor series by D. Barkley Briggs! This series starts strong with a pair of brothers who accidentally end up in another world, and eventually, their other brothers and father get in on the adventure as well. (And there's another significant family who comes up later, so that's great.) I really wish there were more books like this in many ways.

 

French Silk: A book that's easy to read or rich with descriptions.

Speaking of books I don't talk about as much as I used to: Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (aka one of my favorite books and authors of all time) fits perfectly in this category! The way Anne Elisabeth describes the characters and the setting is one of my favorite things — she has a knack for just the right words and language to make everything unfold gradually and beautifully and to let you know clearly what's going on while still keeping the mysterious fairyland feel.

 

Key Lime: A summery sweet book 

This was surprisingly hard to pick something for . . . but I think I have to go with The Paper Magician and its sequels. They're light and fun, with clever magic and fairly sweet (if occasionally frustrating) romance.

 

Blueberry-Peach: A book with a perfect pairing.

Shoot. This is hard to pick. Ummmmm . . . let's go with Lady Dragon, Tela Du, which involves two of my favorite ships, Reutra and Amberite. Admittedly, it's Amberite in one of its sadder chapters, but still. And, as I'm currently alpha-reading Love and Memory, the sequel to this book, I'm experiencing all the feels regarding both ships. It's a problem.

 

Oreo: A book that reminds you of your childhood.

I still love a lot of my late-childhood favorites, so I have a lot to choose from . . . but I'm going with one I don't talk about as much, All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. This is an autobiography about a pre-WWII vet in the Yorkshire region of England, and it's just a delight to read. The author interacted with a lot of colorful characters, both in terms of his patients and his patients' owners. This is one of the last books my dad read to me, so rereading it reminds me of being younger and sitting curled up in my favorite chair and listening to the stories.

 

Lemon Chess: A book with a very Southern setting.

Hello, Raven Cycle! I don't read a lot of books set in the South (mostly because I don't read many books set on Earth, period, and those that are set there, sort of, tend to be alternate Earths and take place in England or some such). But The Raven Cycle is very Virginian, which means I have a special kind of affection for it.

As a runner-up in this category, I have to mention the Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rodgers, which is a fantasy set in a world that feels like colonial America in the deep South, with settlers and swamps and 'gators and so forth. It's intensely underrated, and I highly recommend it.

 

Dark chocolate orange: A book with a bittersweet ending.

Here's another two-for-one deal: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, both for its own sake and as a representative of the whole Beyonders series. I mean, technically most fantasy books have bittersweet endings, but this one sticks out to me for reasons that I can't entirely explain. 

And that's it! Do you agree with my choices? What books would you put for each category? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to pick up the tag for yourself. (Just make sure you link back to Emma's post.) 

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Favorite Webcomics

Allo, everyone! So, I don't mention this much, but I really love webcomics and graphic novels. There's a lot of variety- it seems at times that people will try in webcomics and graphic novels what they wouldn't dare in a normal novel- and, obviously, they have a very different feel than a standard book. And, yeah, there's some that fall flat for various reasons, but the ones that are done well put me in awe of the artists/writers' skills at conveying so much with just pictures and dialogue bubbles. And webcomics in particular are made sweeter by the anticipation of the next installment, yet they're also super easy to binge-read (which is how I do a lot of webcomic reading, honestly). Anyway, since I enjoy them so much, I thought that I'd share some of my favorites.

Favorite Webcomics

1. The Silver Eye (Laura Hollingsworth). I'm pretty sure this is one of the best webcomics on the entire internet. The Silver Eye features the quality storytelling you'd expect from any great fantasy novel, with lovable characters, mysterious backstories, startling plot twists, masked figures (ok, one masked figure), humor, and a healthy dose of magic. On top of that, it has absolutely gorgeous artwork, especially in recent chapters. (And Laura is currently redrawing the first several chapters, so it'll soon be the same quality all the way through.) Seriously, though- the colors! The expressiveness! Everything! I would hang it on my wall if I could. (Actually, I can; I just don't like spending money. That's also the #1 reason I don't have more problems with a lack of bookshelf space, for the record.) As I said, Laura is currently redrawing and reposting some of the first few chapters, but she's almost back to normal chapters- which means this is the perfect time to start reading, so you have some time to get caught up!

2. West of Bathurst by Kari Maaren. Why, yes, this does happen to be created by the author of one of my favorite books of 2017! And, honestly, West of Bathurst may be my favorite of her stories so far. It contains an astounding amount of weirdness, yes, but it also has folklore references, colorful characters (including one infuriating, wonderful, and mysterious Casey Mulligan), a magnificently mind-bending plot, a healthy dose of humor, an emotional rollercoaster of feels (particularly if you binge read it, which I tend to do), and an astonishing amount of weirdness. The comic ended in 2013- I actually started reading it the day it ended, if I recall correctly- which means that it's the only webcomic on this list that won't make you wait for updates.

3. Runewriters by Shazzbaa. Hello, least-angsty of my favorite webcomics! The panel right there sums up the interactions of the main characters (and the comic in general) pretty well, honestly. It's got its share of danger and creepiness and mystery, but Runewriters is also a generally fun story with equally fun characters (including a deaf girl and a grumpy necromancer/healer) and some pretty cool magic. So, yeah. I like it. Shazz went on hiatus for a few months last year, but she's back now with weekly updates.

4. It Never Rains by Kari Maaren. I just really like this author's work, ok? It Never Rains is slightly less convoluted and slightly more frustrating than West of Bathurst or Weave a Circle Round, in my opinion anyway, but I still enjoy it. It's got unlikely friendships and time travel and sisters and characters who are kind of geeks and humor and basically all the things a webcomic needs. (As a side note, it also has a main character with two mums, so . . . yeah. It's not exactly a major part of the story; I just don't want someone yelling at me because I didn't warn them.) Anyway. This one updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, usually, though Maaren occasionally does a week or two of daily updates. Those are delightful.

5. True Magic by Aja. This is arguably the most plot-focused, least character-focused of my favorite webcomics. It's not even that convoluted a plot, compared to some? It started out pretty simple, just some inventive village teens off to try to stop nobles from terrorizing their village. But then people started disappearing, and our heroes got a little sidetracked, and . . . yeah. (My favorite character also got separated from the rest, and now I'm impatiently waiting for the focus to shift back to her.) Anyway. This comic usually updates on Tuesdays, but occasionally the author skips a week for reads of his (or her? not really sure?) own.

6. NaNoToons by Errol Elumir. I think this is probably the most widely-read of the webcomics on this list? It's also the most comic-y of the webcomics, if you get what I mean. But that's part of what makes it so much fun to read, plus it's a nice little destresser during NaNoWriMo. Again, I'm a little disappointed that the storyline is focusing less on my favorite characters, but it's still fun. (Plus, NaNoToons indirectly led to my discovery of Kari Maaren's comics, so I guess you could say I owe it a debt of gratitude? 'Cause if you haven't gotten this already, Maaren's works are awesome.)

7. Darths and Droids by the Comic Irregulars. I . . . don't even know how I started reading this? Like, all the others, I can point to something and say "Oh yeah, I found out about it through this" but not this one. I'm pretty sure it was the first webcomic I ever read, which doesn't help matters. Anyway. It's funny, it's Star Wars, and it started my interest in tabletop RPGs, which . . . still hasn't gotten anywhere, but I'm working on it. Sort of. The current arc isn't my favorite, but that's mostly because I'm less familiar with the base story.

Do you enjoy webcomics? What are your favorites? Please tell me in the comments; I'm always looking for more recommendations!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

End-of-Year Book Freakout "Tag" 2017

2017 is nearly at an end, y'all . . . and that means it's time for the second half of my "Best of" book roundup! Once again, I'm using my modified End-of-Year Book Freakout tag because that's a lot more fun than just trying to compile a list of X favorites (and low-key angsting about how to pick one book over another because they're ALL awesome, just in different ways and yeah). So, let's go!

1. Best book you've read in the second half of 2017:

I've read a lot of good books this half of the year . . . but since this is the best book, not the best sequel, I'm going to say that this is a tie between two:

Before She Ignites is pretty unusual for the fantasy genre, particularly YA fantasy. Most of it takes place in a prison. There's not a lot of action and quite a lot of political maneuvering. A few characters have special powers, but those aren't the focus. It's not set in a facsimile of Medieval Europe but rather in a country reminiscent of some of the Pacific Islands. The main character is the Chosen One, in a sense, but that's almost an arbitrary title, and she's really an ordinary girl in an extraordinary position. And the book actually touches on some pretty serious real issues and, in my opinion, handles them well. Plus, there's dragons. What more could you want?

Weave a Circle Round is another rather unusual book, one that involves time travel and stories and a personification of the eternal conflict between Reason and Chaos. I'm very fond of the last bit. Any story with a personification of chaos is practically guaranteed to be awesome. This is Kari Maaren's first novel, but she's the author/artist of two of my favorite webcomics, West of Bathurst and It Never Rains. True to the form established in those stories, Weave a Circle Round begins as almost magical realism or very odd contemporary, with all the strangeness probably explainable by natural causes or unreliable senses . . . but then the time travel kicks in. Also as usual, the protagonist of Weave a Circle Round tends to, as the author puts it, "muddle through" her adventure, which, honestly, is what I'd probably do in her place and is quite relatable on the whole.

Also, while it's not quite as high on the list, I'd like to mention Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World, Bryan Davis's latest release. It's middle-grade, but super fun and pretty unique for a superhero novel.

2. Best sequel you've read in the second half of 2017:

I think we all know what I'm going to say here:

I'm technically still reading Oathbringer, Brandon Sanderson's latest release, but it's easily shaping up to be not just one of the best sequels of the year but one of the best books overall. We've got answers, we've got new questions, we've got increased conflict both external and internal, we've got spren both awesome (allo, Syl and Pattern!) and creepy . . .  And we've got Dalinar flashbacks, which is interesting, to say the least. Dalinar was very different in his youth from the man we know now. Also, Shallan is awesome even if she's making me a bit nervous currently. Just sayin'.

Of course, there are a few other sequels that are well worth mentioning. In order of publication:

Thick as Thieves had a distinct lack of Eugenides but managed to be awesome anyway. Plus it's a Persia-esque setting, which is pretty unique.

And The Dire King was a magnificent finale to the series- epic, thrilling, feels-heavy but not lacking in the usual Jackaby humor, with an ending that's just- I can't even. I can't.

3. New release you haven't read yet but want to: 

There are a few more of these than I'd like . . . college life is not exactly what you'd call convenient for keeping up with new releases unless you're willing to spend a small fortune every month and have a lot of storage space. That said, at the top of the list is:

The Lost Plot! The latest Invisible Library book! It's out, it's out, it's ouuuuuuuttttttt! (And I didn't realize it until earlier this week!) And I need it yesterday!

Of course, there's a few others that I'm also looking forward to. For example:

The Empty Grave is the latest and last in the Lockwood and Co. series, and while I nearly gave up on it after The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow convinced me to see the series through to the end.

An Enchantment of Ravens sounds like a unique fantasy story; a bit heavier on the romance than I think I usually read, but still fun, and it's gotten great reviews from a lot of my friends.

Renegades is the latest book from Marissa Meyer. From the reviews and excerpts I've read, I'm not expecting to like this as much as I do The Lunar Chronicles, but it should still be pretty cool.

4. Most anticipated release for next year:

Brandon Sanderson is releasing another YA novel! It's called Skyward and is apparently a sci-fi take on the "boy and his dragon" storyline, involving mysterious aliens, a girl who wants to be a pilot, and a sentient (or, at least, soul-bearing) spaceship. Sanderson says that it's not in the Cosmere or Reckoners universes, but that it is in the continuity of something else he's written. So, that means it could be connected to Alcatraz, the Legion books, Perfect State, Snapshot, or The Rithmatist. I'm not sure which it'll be, but my money's on Perfect State, since the premise of that universe allows for near-infinite genres and storylines.

A few other books I'm excited for:

Ink, Iron, and Glass I mentioned in my Winter 2017-18 Reads post, but if you missed that: it's steampunk, involves writers who can bring their worlds to life, and generally sounds pretty awesome.

The Penderwicks at Last is the final book in a series I've been reading for a while now. It's contemporary, but I love it anyway, and while I'm sad the series is almost over, I'm excited to see how it ends.

And, finally, Fawkes is historical fantasy and should be pretty exciting. Plus, while I haven't read anything by Nadine Brandes yet, I've heard she's a very good author.

5. Biggest disappointment:

Shadow Run was undoubtedly the biggest disappointment of the entire year. I was promised Firefly and a very cool premise. Instead, I got the biggest mess of cliches I'd read in a long while and a romance that completely overshadowed the actual plot. Yeah. I'm still bitter, if you can't tell.

6. Biggest surprise:

I don't normally read contemporary; quite honestly, I associate it with romantic fluff, overblown teenage angst, boy/friendship drama, and questionable content. So, while I enjoy John Green from vlogbrothers and such, I was a bit nervous when I ended up reading Turtles All the Way Down so I could review it for my college newspaper. Yet this book is honestly one of the better ones I've read this year; it's powerful and poignant and philosophical, and, yes, there's angst and drama, but it's well done, and the story touches that deeper Reality which is so vibrant in the good spec-fic I love. Plus, there's a refreshing lack of romantic fluff (even less than in most fantasy novels) and, other than one scene, not a lot of questionable content either.

7. Favorite new-to-you author:

I'm going to go with Kyle Robert Schultz, author of The Beast of Talesend and the rest of the Beaumont and Beasley books. I've only read the first of these books, but it was wonderful and mysterious and steampunky and a brilliant mix of fairy tale and original material and yeah. I want to read the rest of the series yesterday.

8. Newest fictional crush/ship:

Um. I don't really have any new crushes or ships that I feel strongly about? So instead I'm just going to say that Charlie and Abigail from Jackaby are still one of the best things ever, as is Shadolin Shallan x Adolin) from the Stormlight Archive. (Shaladin shippers, I refer you to literally every interaction between Shallan and Adolin in Part 1 of Oathbringer.) Also, I knew (spoiler for Ghostly Echoes + The Dire King) Jackaby and Jenny were a thing, but I didn't realize just how much I like them as a thing until I read The Dire King.

9. Newest favorite characters:

Oooooh. Definitely new people here.

• Nick, Cordelia, and Crispin from The Beast of Talesend are absolutely perfect and I love their personalities and character dynamics and interactions and YES.
• Cuerva Lachance from Weave a Circle Round is . . . I don't even know how to properly describe her. She's mysterious and enigmatic and strange and amusing and terrifying and does things because they're impossible and might be one of my favorite parts of the book.  
• I rediscovered how awesome Ransom from C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy is. I have some friends who really like him, and yeah, I can see why. I'm also 99.9% certain that he's based off Tolkien, so . . . yeah.
• Eddie, Damocles, and Gilbert from Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World are all also awesome in their own way: Eddie's super relatable for a 12-year-old boy, Damocles is . . . he's a character and I sometimes don't quite know what to do with him, but he's interesting and I love him, and Gilbert is just fun. So, yeah.

I feel like I should have someone from Harry Potter on here, since I finally started reading the series? But while I do quite like certain characters (*cough*everyWeasleyeveryes*cough*andalsoHagrid*cough*), I'm not sure if they make the top list? Plus I read so many AU and headcanon sort of things on Pinterest that I don't always know what in my head is real about the characters and what's just something that someone else came up with. It's a problem. 

10. A book that made you cry:

No crying, but while reading The Dire King, the conclusion to the Jackaby series, I did much "Nonononono"-ing. Also some quiet screaming, not-so-quiet keening, and possibly a bit of whimpering. The book killed me with feels, basically. I'm still not over it.

11. A book that made you happy:

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans is absolutely adorable, ok? It's got a precocious young girl and a crotchety old lady dragon and a lovely mixing of magic and reality and just makes my heart happy in general. The rest of the series is good too, but the first book is undoubtedly the best.

12. Favorite book to film adaptation you've seen this half of the year:

Um. I rewatched the LOTR extended editions. Does that count?

13. Favorite post(s) you've done this half of the year:

I really enjoyed finally writing my Plantser's Guide to Worldbuilding! Also, I wrote a thing. It involves food, love, and magic, and what else do you really need in life?

14. Most beautiful book you've bought/received this half of the year:

I'm going to take a moment to gush again about the prettiness of the new version of Do You Take This Quest? Story-wise, it's still not my favorite of the Bookania Quests, but the cover is my favorite; I love the purple and the watercolor feel and the softness and it just makes me happy for some reason.

15. Any other books you want to babble about for any other reason?

As per the usual, a few books that I still need to read even though they're no longer really recent releases:

Exiles by Jaye L. Knight remains on my TBR list, despite the fact that I've owned the book since September. I hope to fix that by the end of break, though. And eventually I need to break this wait-forever-to-read-Ilyon streak that I have going.

 The Last Magician came out in July, but I haven't been able to get ahold of it until now because libraries are uncooperative. Also, college. I checked it out from the library yesterday; hopefully I'll manage to read it before break ends.

I still haven't read The Lord of Chaos or any other Wheel of Time books, despite the fact that I own significantly more of them. In my defense, they're long and not half as exciting as Sanderson, and therefore I have to work myself up to them.

Also, I finally got ahold of the whole Spellsmith and Carver series, including an actual physical copy of the first book, so I really want to read those . . . I just have to find the right time, when another book isn't higher priority.

And there you have it! Feel free to borrow this tag for your own end-of-year posts or to answer in comments any of the questions that piqued your interest. I'd love to hear what you've been reading lately!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Fall 2017 Reads (So Much Awesome!)

Hey'a, everyone! Normally, I would do this post a week from now, especially since next Friday actually falls on the first day of fall. However, next week I have other plans, so instead we get to explore next season's new books a week early. It's a sacrifice, I know, but one we all must make. Or, I must make, anyway. You're perfectly free to ignore this post until next Friday, but I do hope you won't, because I am super excited for some of these reads. Also, there's a lot of books to look forward to for what seems like the first time in absolute ages and it's quite wonderful.

Fall 2017 Reads

1. Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows (September 12)

Yes, yes, yes, this and the next one are technically already out. I'm only three days late, though, so we'll let it slide. Anyway- this is the only book on this list that I'm completely unfamiliar with beyond what's on Goodreads. It sounds like it has a lot of potential for awesome (and dragons, which are basically the same thing), but also a lot of potential to be just plain bad. We'll see which turns out to be the truth.

2. The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud (September 12)

I didn't know I could be this excited for a Lockwood and Co. book, but after the ending of that last one- I need this as soon as possible, please. It sounds like it's going to be an incredible conclusion. Plus, I have theories about what's going on and I want to know if I'm right or not and yeah. It's going to be great. Or I hope it will be, anyway.

3. Lightporter by C.B. Cook (September ??) 

So, Goodreads just says that this one is coming out in September, so I wondered if it was already released? But it's not on Amazon, so I guess not. I've already read Lightporter (yay, beta-ing), so now I'm mostly just excited for everyone else to read it. If only we had an official release date . . .

4. Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World by Bryan Davis (October 1?) 

Again, I don't know what exactly is going on with the release date here, because Goodreads says October 1, but the blog tour is next week? I guess maybe the blog tour is just super early? I don't know. But I've already read this one too- just finished it, in fact!- and it's decidedly awesome. Again, I can't wait until others read it too so I can talk about it with them.

5. White Sands Volume 2 by Brandon Sanderson (November 14)

Arguably the book I'm least excited for out of all of these- which is kind of ironic, since it's by one of my top three favorite authors. I didn't care for the first White Sands book, and I don't have high hopes for this one either. However, I feel obligated to read it, because it's Cosmere and it has Khriss in it and potentially clues about who-knows what. At least since it's a graphic novel, it won't take super long to read. And who knows, this one might be better than the first.

6. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (November 14)

AHHHHHH IT'S ALMOST HERE! Only two more months! Two more months! If I really wanted to, I could have started reading this a couple weeks ago, since Tor.com is giving us a preview, posting a chapter or two every so often, but I feel like that'll just drive me crazier. I want to get this book and be able to dive into it and not come out for hours. (So, I either have to read it over Thanksgiving break or clear a Saturday of schoolwork and other activities . . . doable either way.) But I want more of Kaladin and Shallan and Syl and Pattern and Dalinar's history and Szeth's development and Wit being Wit and people maybe answering some questions and probably raising more questions than they answer and just everything. 

7. Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maarten (November 28) 

I'm not quite sure what to expect from this, but based on some of the author's tweets/Facebook messages/comments-under-comics, I think it's time travel, which sounds pretty awesome, and urban fantasy, which I'm always looking for more of. This is technically Kari Maarten's debut, but I already know a little about her style from her webcomics- which, for the record, are quite awesome and mind-twisty and kind of weird. If Weave a Circle Round is anything like those comics, it's going to be absolutely awesome. 

What Fall 2017 reads are you looking forward to? Did I miss any on this list? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)