Lovely Quotable!

Every Day of my life.....❤️

One Sit reads: An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunter & Denizens of Downworld

Sometimes a girl just needs a Shadowhunter fix; that's exactly what I got with this short little volume. This book covers every Shadowhunter and character that we have meant in all of Clare's books. What made this book so special is that it features the artwork of Cassandra Jean; who has been working along side Cassie Clare to bring the Shadowhunters to life for several years. Another magical thing about this little tome is that every blurb about the characters features something we didn't know about them. For instance, I loved the bit about Tatiana Blackthorn (sister to the Lightwood brothers in Infernal Devices); supposedly she was prone to nastiness. Throwing tantrums when she did not get her way etc. Well, if any of you remember the elder (father) Lightwood turned into a worm after contracting Demon Pox. According to this book Tatiana went into a rage after her father ate her fiancé in front of her.
I literally laughed. I remember that part of the book very well because her reaction was not one of horror or grief but childish anger. I laughed at that scene and I laughed at the blurb. Another thing that I found enjoyable was that the cats (Chairman Meow and Church) are featured. Not to mention my book boyfriend, Jen Carstairs, is featured twice. This book was a quick, easy read, and it took me two days to get through (it would have been one if I had not been so tired Monday night). This book is definitely a must have for all Cassandra Clare fans. I really can not wait to add it to my Shadowhunter shelf. I gave this 5/5 stars of goodreads.com

Below is some of the art work from the book:

Books to get excited about: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Synopsis:
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Why I'm excited:
We live in a day and age (especially in America) were it seems like for weeks on end there are police involved shootings of people of color. For me the subject has always been a tough one; I have always been Pro law enforcement (spent over 8 years in college to obtain a Bachelors and Masters degree in Criminal Justice). I know cops have a dangerous and difficult job. However, I was always very aware of the underlining mistrust in my own community when it came to Law Enforcement. And I had witnessed first hand what it's like to be profiled by police. Officers have a tough job; and over the past few years it's gotten tougher because of a few bad apples in their departments. But also because certain things on certain departments have been exposed. Not to mention more aggressive reporting on mass incarceration and its effects on communities of color.
This book excites me because it is written for a YA audience. It will give kids a small glimpse into how these situations make those involved feel. I am interested to see how the author spins this. How she channels the frustration, hurt and anger into this nice, neat package. I think there will be a lot of Raw emotion in this book. I really can not wait to read it.

^ above: photo of Angie Thomas
*also the book has been slated to become a major motion picture

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope all you bookies got lots of lovely gifts from those special in your life. I took part in Litsy's #CupidGoesPostal book swap. I received several lovely books (pictured below).

I also received a copy of End of Watch by Stephen King from my guy friend as well as some lovely bottles of wine. I feel like I have all that I could want this Valentine's Day.

SuperBowl 51's Best Ad!

If you're friends with me on Facebook or follow me on InstaGram you'll probably know I am a lover of all things Football. I am actually a Greenbay Packers fan (odd for a Delaware girl); this year my team did not make it to 51 so I was not at all invested in the game. However, I always pay attention to the half time show and the commercials. This year I missed the show but I did get to see the 84 Lumber commercial. And wow. Just wow. It left such an impression on me that I had to share it.
Sadly we live in a world now where the foreign is often pushed aside and demonized; but sometimes companies, celebrities, and every day people show us that we are all one people. This commercial showed the true spirit of the country that I am so proud to be a citizen of. I just wish more citizens in our country felt the same about those they see as "other".

Last Month

2,338 pages read last month!
Best Book read last month: The Murder House
Book I'd re-read: The Angel's Share
Book I liked least: The Trouble with Women.

New Book on my TBR....

Today Vanity Fair reported that an author had received an explosive interview with one of the key people from the Emmett Till Murder.
According to the interview, Carolyn Bryant (who accused Till of whistling at her), admits to lying. Her lie led to the lynching of Till in August of 1955. Bryant'a husband and and his half brother got their day in court but where never convicted; though they did admit to the crime.
I just added this book to my TBR for next month.

Here is the synopsis:
In 2014, protesters ringed the White House, chanting, “How many black kids will you kill? Michael Brown, Emmett Till!” Why did demonstrators invoke the name of a black boy murdered six decades before?

In 1955, white men in the Mississippi Delta lynched a fourteen-year-old from Chicago named Emmett Till. His murder was part of a wave of white terrorism in the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared public school segregation unconstitutional.

The national coalition organized to protest the Till lynching became the foundation of the modern civil rights movement. Only weeks later, Rosa Parks thought about young Emmett as she refused to move to the back of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Five years later, the Emmett Till generation, forever marked by the vicious killing of a boy their own age, launched sit-in campaigns that turned the struggle into a mass movement. “I can hear the blood of Emmett Till as it calls from the ground,” shouted a black preacher in Albany, Georgia.

But what actually happened to Emmett Till—not the icon of injustice but the flesh-and-blood boy? Part detective story, part political history, Timothy Tyson’s The Blood of Emmett Till draws on a wealth of new evidence, including the only interview ever given by Carolyn Bryant, the white woman in whose name Till was killed. Tyson’s gripping narrative upends what we thought we knew about the most notorious racial crime in American history.