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.