state of the arc #5

State of the ARC is a monthly meme hosted by Avalinah's Books. It's a way to track your reading progress and see how fellow book bloggers are doing as well.

The rules for State of the ARC are quite simple; I couldn't put them any better than Evelina already has:

• Mention that you’re linking up with State of the ARC @ AvalinahsBooks, which is a fun way to share our ARC progress, challenges, wins, woes and mishaps.
• Include the link to this post, or the current State of the ARC post. You can use my State of the ARC image too.
• Don’t forget to visit all the other people in the link-up and comment.
• And most importantly – have fun!

what i'm reading: summer 2018

Whether the summer heat sends you running for the beach or locking your doors and cranking up the A/C, the warm doldrums ahead are perfectly suited to reading! For me, there is very little more pleasant than heading outside with a cool drink and a good book to read on a summer evening. Provided you can keep the mosquitoes away, that is. (Seriously, I'm a biologist with a graduate degree and I still don't see the point of these nasty little vampire flies!) This year the summer months are stuffed full of great new books coming out. These are only a few from that list for which I already have copies to read and review. They range from contemporary, to fantasy, to science fiction and horror: a mix that should have a little something for everyone!

book review: the bear and the nightingale

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Del Rey, 323 pp.
Published January 10, 2017

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind--she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed--this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.

sunday post #20

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.

My big news this week is that I started a #bookstagram! If you have an account, you can follow me @thisdarkmaterial. I'm still discovering new accounts to follow so please don't be shy about sharing your handle :) This was a very nerve-wracking step for me because: 1) it's another social media platform to manage; 2) curating any kind of ~aesthetic doesn't come naturally to me; and 3) I didn't want to start, only to discover that I needed to spend lots of money on props and equipment. Thankfully Evelina included an introduction to Bookstagram in her #NewBloggers101 post series and that, along with some posts from other bloggers, really helped with getting things set up. As for props? My house has gorgeous (and green) yards in the front and the back, so I decided there could be no better (or more free) setting for pictures! I hope I get to see some of you over there as I continue to tweak and grow :)

book review: legendary

Legendary by Stephanie Garber
Flatiron Books, 416 pp.
Published May 29, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free physical ARC of this book from Flatiron Books via a Goodreads giveaway for review purposes.

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval...the games have only just begun.

dallas international film festival 2018 recap

Although I've attended as both a ticket- and pass-holder in the past, this was my first year covering the Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) with a press pass! To be perfectly honest, it's not all that different from having a regular pass. There is something cool about presenting it to the volunteers managing each theater, though, and having them mark you down as 'press'. It just sounds so official, doesn't it?

This year the festival was shorter than usual, taking up only one weekend rather than two, and relocated to a single theater. Usually they host screenings at several theaters around the city, which I preferred. I've watched movies at this year's host theater for at least 15 years now; I love it! But unfortunately the space is simply too small to accommodate large crowds of people who are expected to show up early and wait in lines for a screening. I can understand the marketing reasons for committing to one venue in the middle of a popular shopping district, but logistically it was a pain at times.

The shorter schedule meant fewer films and I'll admit that on opening night, I wasn't expecting to love many of them. Thankfully I had judged too soon and ended the festival blown away by a few of the movies I saw! I already plan to see a couple of them during their theatrical runs later this year. Speaking of which, all of the films featured below already have U.S. distributors! Which means they'll at least see a limited theatrical run with streaming, DVD, and/or on-demand options most likely in the works as well.

book review: authority

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 341 pp.
Published May 6, 2014

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X--a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization--has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered...but the answers are far from reassuring.

sunday post #19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.

Summer has arrived in Texas, although the low 90's (or the low 30's, for my metrically-inclined followers) are a mere taste of what awaits us later in the season! It was a blessedly empty week...and I mean empty. Neither my phone calendar nor my desk planner had a single note in them which means I got to structure my days however I wanted. I did take my truck in for a little A/C tune-up before the days turn into scorchers; it's a classic that's nearly 30 years old and needs a little extra TLC at times. I even took a book and a beer into the backyard to enjoy some late afternoon reading in the shade! Mosquitoes get to be a problem once summer kicks into high gear and it's nice to enjoy the warm weather without practically spooning a citronella candle (although I'll admit I kinda like the smell!).

book review: furyborn

Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Sourcebooks Fire, 512 pp.
Published May 22, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free physical ARC of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via BookishFirst for review purposes. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

book review: caraval

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Flatiron Books, 407 pp.
Published January 31, 2017

Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

down the tbr hole #19

As my Goodreads to-read shelf creeps closer to 500 books, I've been eyeing it with a growing feeling of apprehension. It would take forever to get through so many...and that's not counting all of the new books I hear about along the way. Thankfully I discovered Lost In A Story's series (by way of Boston Book Reader) at the beginning of the year and it sounds like a great way to trim down my TBR.

The guidelines, per Lost In A Story, are simple:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
• Order on ascending date added
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I'll be going through 10 books every week, meaning it should take me almost the whole year to reach the end! If you'd like to do this yourself, be sure to visit Lost In A Story's original post and let her (and me!) know you'll be joining in the fun.

book review: all the ever afters

All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother by Danielle Teller
William Morrow, 384 pp.
Published May 22, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free digital ARC of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+ for review purposes. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.

We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we?

As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story. . . .

A peasant born into serfdom, Agnes is separated from her family and forced into servitude as a laundress’s apprentice when she is only ten years old. Using her wits and ingenuity, she escapes her tyrannical matron and makes her way toward a hopeful future. When teenaged Agnes is seduced by an older man and becomes pregnant, she is transformed by love for her child. Once again left penniless, Agnes has no choice but to return to servitude at the manor she thought she had left behind. Her new position is nursemaid to Ella, an otherworldly infant. She struggles to love the child who in time becomes her stepdaughter and, eventually, the celebrated princess who embodies everyone’s unattainable fantasies. The story of their relationship reveals that nothing is what it seems, that beauty is not always desirable, and that love can take on many guises.

Lyrically told, emotionally evocative, and brilliantly perceptive, All the Ever Afters explores the hidden complexities that lie beneath classic tales of good and evil, all the while showing us that how we confront adversity reveals a more profound, and ultimately more important, truth than the ideal of “happily ever after.”

sunday post #18

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.

The film festival ended on Thursday and let me tell you, I am tired! There were a lot of good films screened this year and only a couple of genuine duds on my schedule. Near the end of the month I'm going to have a wrap-up post featuring some of my favorites and, best of all, many of them already have US release dates! Which means if any of them sound interesting to you there's a good chance you'll be able to check them out in a theater or on demand sometime in the near future.

My reading and book reviews have taken a hit with so much free time tied up in the week-long festival. Each night I would come home and write anywhere from one to three film reviews before going to bed, so my backlog of book reviews has grown. I also didn't read as much as I usually do: the festival is loud, crowded, and bustling, which isn't an ideal reading environment even when I was waiting around. This week I want to finish (and, let's be honest, start!) my three pending book reviews and get to at lease one of two remaining June releases on my TBR. The reviews are a little daunting since I've spent so much time writing recently, but I think I can do it!

tagged: anti-valentines day book tag

It may be nearly three months past Valentine's Day, but I'm still going to do this tag gosh darn it! Aimee @ AimeeAlways was kind enough to tag me in this all the way back in February, when a post like this makes more sense. These are always fun no matter the time of year, though, so without further ado:

THE RULES

1. Link back to the blog that tagged you!
2. Answer the 10 anti-Valentine's Day questions provided.
3. Come up with your own 10 anti-Valentine's questions for blogs you tag.
4. Tag ten other bloggers to do the tag!

book review: stalking jack the ripper

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
JIMMY Patterson Books, 326 pp.
Published September 20, 2016

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.

book review: what should be wild

What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
Harper, 368 pp.
Published May 8, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free physical ARC of this book from Harper via a Goodreads giveaway for review purposes. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.

Cursed. Maisie Cothay has never known the feel of human flesh: born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, she has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie not to venture into the wood. Locals talk of men disappearing within, emerging with addled minds and strange stories. What he does not tell Maisie is that for over a millennium her female ancestors have also vanished into the wood, never to emerge—for she is descended from a long line of cursed women.

But one day Maisie’s father disappears, and Maisie must venture beyond the walls of her carefully constructed life to find him. Away from her home and the wood for the very first time, she encounters a strange world filled with wonder and deception. Yet the farther she strays, the more the wood calls her home. For only there can Maisie finally reckon with her power and come to understand the wildest parts of herself.

sunday post #17

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.

A storm front and liberal doses of Sudafed seem to have freed my sinuses from the purgatory they were trapped in for the first part of the week. To celebrate I indulged in some pampering that kept getting put off, like getting my brows shaped and visiting the nail salon. While I like keeping my nails well-groomed, the best part about the salon I visit is the massage chairs! To be honest I kind of think they're better than a regular massage. I'm very loyal to one tech in particular and he's been quite busy the last couple of months, so it was nice that our schedules finally synced up.

Today also marks the halfway point of the local film festival I'm attending. I've seen more successes than duds so far, which is pleasantly surprising. My busiest days will be behind me after the weekend but I will still have several weeknights of movie-going up until the festival wraps on Thursday. This is always a fun time of year, although I do wish it didn't (temporarily) make me feel a little disconnected from my friends on- and off-line.

Lastly, a little spot of blog business. You may notice that my "coming up on the blog" section is smaller this week. After seeing some great discussions in the community about post frequency and battling burnout, I've decided to ease up on my schedule just a touch. Instead of consistently posting 5+ posts each week (the Sunday meme not included) I'm going to test out having 3-4 posts/week instead. I'm also going to work on mixing in more discussion oriented posts throughout the summer. I really value your feedback, so don't hesitate to let me know what you think of the (small) changes!

book review: onyx & ivory

Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett
Balzer + Bray, 512 pp.
Published May 15, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free digital ARC of this book from Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss+ for review purposes.

They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king years ago. Now Kate lives as an outcast, clinging to the fringes of society as a member of the Relay, the imperial courier service. Only those most skilled in riding and bow hunting ride for the Relay; and only the fastest survive, for when dark falls, the nightdrakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: she is a wilder, born with magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals. But it’s this magic that she needs to keep hidden, as being a wilder is forbidden, punishable by death or exile. And it’s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by nightdrakes in broad daylight—the only survivor her childhood friend, her first love, the boy she swore to forget, the boy who broke her heart.

The high king’s second son, Corwin Tormane, never asked to lead. Even as he waits for the uror—the once-in-a-generation ritual to decide which of the king’s children will succeed him—he knows it’s always been his brother who will assume the throne. And that’s fine by him. He’d rather spend his days away from the palace, away from the sight of his father, broken with sickness from the attempt on his life. But the peacekeeping tour Corwin is on has given him too much time to reflect upon the night he saved his father’s life—the night he condemned the would-be killer to death and lost the girl he loved. Which is why he takes it on himself to investigate rumors of unrest in one of the remote city-states, only for his caravan to be attacked—and for him to be saved by Kate.

With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin have to put the past behind them. The threat of drakes who attack in the daylight is only the beginning of a darker menace stirring in the kingdom—one whose origins have dire implications for Kate’s father’s attack upon the king and will thrust them into the middle of a brewing civil war in the kingdom of Rime.

book review: undead girl gang

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
Razorbill, 272 pp.
Published May 8, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free physical ARC of this book from Penguin Random House for review purposes. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.

down the tbr hole #18

As my Goodreads to-read shelf creeps closer to 500 books, I've been eyeing it with a growing feeling of apprehension. It would take forever to get through so many...and that's not counting all of the new books I hear about along the way. Thankfully I discovered Lost In A Story's series (by way of Boston Book Reader) at the beginning of the year and it sounds like a great way to trim down my TBR.

The guidelines, per Lost In A Story, are simple:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
• Order on ascending date added
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I'll be going through 10 books every week, meaning it should take me almost the whole year to reach the end! If you'd like to do this yourself, be sure to visit Lost In A Story's original post and let her (and me!) know you'll be joining in the fun.