Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Guinness and the Irish Countryside – Ireland

Posted in Life Lately by

The last country that we went to while in Europe was Ireland. Adding Ireland to our trip itinerary was an easy decision. With our trip being two weeks, we didn’t want to travel too far into Europe and run out of time to see the things that we wanted to see. Plus, it would have added time to our travel back to the US which I think me and my husband wouldn’t have been a big fan of. Ireland was lovely and I’d love to go back.

Image is a beautiful library. The ceiling is really high and it's two stories. There are several balconies on the second story. There are several shelves that are empty.

One of the first places we visited while in Dublin was Trinity College. Trinity College is located in Dublin and is open to the public. The campus was stunning! The architecture is well-preserved and the buildings themselves are gorgeous. The real draw for me though was The Old Library and the Book of Kells. Wandering through the library made me feel like I was in a Dark Academia book. I love all things Dark Academia and Spooky in the books I read and going through the library was right up my alley. It’s interesting because when we were there, a lot of the shelves were empty. The books are going through a restoration process right now which I found fascinating. There were some videos displayed that highlighted what that process is like. Trinity College was one of my favorite places we visited while in Dublin.

[Image is a picture of me smiling holding a Guinness]

Besides Trinity, me and my husband also went to the Guinness Storehouse and booked a Guinness tour. This was something that we booked far in advance. There aren’t that many beers that are as globally well-known as Guinness is. The Guinness Storehouse has seven floors. On the first floor, it talks about what actually goes into a Guinness and how Guinness is made. Throughout the other floors, it shows how Guinness has evolved. One of the facts that I took with me is that Guinness was the first beer to have Nitrogen added to it. During the tour, we had a free tasting along with a demonstration of how you’re supposed to drink a Guinness. At the end of the tour, you could visit the gravity bar on the top floor. The gravity bar is a bar surrounded by windows, so you could have a stunning view of Dublin. The Guinness Storehouse took a lot longer than I thought as we were there for almost four hours. There was so much to see and it was nice to have a pint after the tour.

Image is of The Cliffs of Moher. There are several cliffs that are a mix of a bright green and brown. There's water below. It's cloudy, so there is fog on the water where you can't see the end of the water.

One of the last things that we saw while in Ireland was the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are on the Western coast of Ireland. To get there, we took a train from Dublin to Galway and then a tour bus from Galway to the Cliffs. The Cliffs are breathtaking. The grass is so green which makes sense because it was pouring the entire day that we were there. It was really windy while we were there. It felt like I was going to be blown over the cliff. There are a few pictures that me and my husband took and my hair is whipping around. We were at The Cliffs for two hours and I thought that was plenty of time. I walk fast, so I found that we climbed The Cliffs relatively quickly. Seeing The Cliffs in person was so worth it.

Image is of me and my husband with the cliffs in the background. My hair is flying around. It looks like it had been raining outside.

I wish that we had more time in Ireland. I’d love to visit Cork or Kilkenny, but we didn’t have the time. I feel like a broken record at this point, but I’d love to go back to Ireland. As I reflect on our trip as a whole, I do feel that two weeks was a long time to be away from home. In many ways, this trip has taught me a lot about how I like to travel and helped me prioritize different trips that I want to take in the next few years. I’m so glad that I was able to finally go to Europe, it was a trip that was a long time in the making.

Is Curse of Strahd’s Ending Underwhelming?

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Ginny Di is one of my favorite TTRPG (tabletop roleplaying game) content creators. I find her videos easy to follow and I like that she has tips for both players and DMs (Dungeon Masters) to improve the gameplay experience. I saw a video she recently posted titled Fixing Curse of Strahd’s Ending and I was immediately intrigued. My group completed Curse of Strahd earlier this year and I had a blast. I was curious what was wrong with the ending of the campaign.

Slight Curse of Strahd Spoilers down below and Ginny Di’s video

Some players had stated that they felt the Curse of Strahd ending was underwhelming. Some players found that depending on what level they were, they could take down Strahd in two or three rounds. In our game, Strahd put up a fight and that’s partially because our group didn’t have a plan on how we were going to face Strahd, we just wanted to take him down and we would figure it out as we went. Ginny Di reviewed a guidebook titled Curse of Strahd: The Wedding at Ravenloft by Wyatt Trull. The guidebook provides a potential way for players to face Strahd that would feel impactful.

In The Wedding at Ravenloft, players are invited to Strahd’s wedding to Ireena, an NPC (non-playable character, typically voiced by the DM) that the players met early on in the game. Players can either attack Strahd right away before the wedding begins or let the wedding proceed. If players let the wedding continue, they can object to the marriage or yell obscenities throughout the ceremony. After the wedding, Strahd takes Ireena, locks the players inside, and forces them to fight their way to him.

I like the idea of The Wedding at Ravenloft because it sounds like a video game boss battle of sorts. The wedding serves as the cut scene to battle with Strahd. There’s Ireena who serves as the motivation for the players because if they don’t save her, she will forcibly be bound to Strahd for the rest of her days including being turned into a vampire. I could see this being useful for a DM who wants to put their players in a position where any decision they make will have consequences.

This video was interesting to watch and put a new perspective on Curse of Strahd that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. For those who are looking for more TTRPG content, I would highly recommend watching Ginny Di’s videos.

James Bond, Sherlock Holmes – Visiting London

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I knew for a fact that I wanted to go to London on our trip. I love all things pop culture that are based out of the UK such as James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and more. I had London listed in a travel bucket list post that I wrote in 2016, so it’s neat to be able to say that I can cross London off my list. London was nothing short of amazing and it held up to every expectation that I had.

Picture is a building that is across the Thames river. The building has a blue roof. It almost looks like solar panels at the back. It's a brown building with two towers in the back.

Starting with the pop culture references first, I made a point to visit the SIS Building aka. the MI6 building featured in many of the James Bond films. The SIS Building wasn’t a far walk from where we were staying and I wanted to see the building up close. It’s a really cool building. We didn’t go inside and quite frankly, I don’t think we could go inside? It was still worth it to see. Besides the SIS Building, we also visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221 B Baker Street. I read a few of the Sherlock Holmes stories in high school and I love the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective game that my brother bought for me. Right when we exited The Tube, there was a Sherlock Holmes statue waiting for us. My friend commented that Sherlock looked like Bill Nye and I can’t unsee it. My husband wasn’t the biggest fan of the museum since the tour guide acted like Sherlock Holmes was real, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We also went out of our way to find the TARDIS from Doctor Who. We did not go to the Doctor Who Museum because it was really out of our way, but I would happily go to London again and make time to see it.

Image is a photo of me. I have sunglasses on and I'm smiling. Behind me is the SIS building.

Besides the pop culture references, we did see quite a bit including the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. My husband successfully convinced me to go to The London Eye. I don’t do well with heights, but it was worth it. It was cool to see London in all its glory. There was also a voiceover explaining all the buildings and it was easy to follow. Seeing Big Ben was another highlight of visiting London. While we were walking around, I found myself looking at the architecture of the various buildings we passed. It’s cool to see these buildings still preserved and in good shape.

Image is a statue of Sherlock Holmes. He looks like he is thinking. A friend commented that he looks like Bill Nye. At the bottom of his statue it says "The Greatest Detective"

Me and my husband couldn’t leave London without going to a few pubs. I liked how most of the pubs we visited were two floors. I liked sitting at a pub and looking out the window. I’m usually a beer drinker and I definitely had a few pints. Another drink of choice for me is an Espresso Martini. It’s so good. I like it because it’s the perfect drink to have after dinner and socialize. It doesn’t feel as heavy as beer. I kind of knew that going to London, we would be drinking more than we normally would in a day-to-day routine.

Photo is of Big Ben. There's a red decker tour bus on the road passing by.

London was well worth the visit and if I ever have the chance to go back, I would. There’s so much to see in London and I figure that if I were to go back, I’m sure I would have a different trip since I didn’t get to do everything that I had on my list. I would love to make it to Scotland at some point as well. My next post will focus on Ireland as that was the last country we visited on our trip.

Europe Comics Haul

Posted in Reading/Books by

It should be no surprise to anyone that I found a variety of different comic book stores while in Europe. I love comic book stores. I think it’s cool how a hobby or an interest can connect people from across the world. I went to four different comic book stores while on our trip. I remember waiting for our flight from Boston to Minneapolis and thinking about how heavy my backpack had become since I bought so much. I wanted to share which stores I went to and what I bought!

Gosh! Comics

Image is a comic book store. There's a Batman sign that splits the shop windows. There's a sign with gosh in lower case on the left hand window.

The first comic book store we visited was Gosh! Comics. Gosh! was a random find as it wasn’t on my list of things to do while in London. We were walking around and I saw the Batman sign above the entrance. Gosh! might be my favorite comic book store from this list. On the first floor, they had local comics published in England. I bought a few local comics along with a few trade paperbacks on my list. Gosh! had two floors with the downstairs having its DC, Marvel, and Manga sections. Gosh! was such a fun, random find in London.

Sub-City Comics

Image is of a comic book store. The sign says "Sub-City Comics" with a red circle that's filled in the background.

Sub-City Comics is a comic book store in Dublin that’s a short walk away from downtown. Sub-City Comics also had a shelf of local comics from a publisher called Atomic Diner. I bought two graphic novels, one takes place in WWII in Ireland which I thought seemed interesting. Sub-City also had a big Manga section which is cool to see. I’m seeing more local comic book stores expand their Manga section which I think has directly contributed to me reading more Manga on a weekly basis.

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is more of a chain of comic book stores with locations in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. I stopped in the Dublin location during our trip. Forbidden Planet was cool, but it was more toy-heavy than the other stores. I like action figures and collectibles, but it’s not the main reason I go into a comic book store. Forbidden Planet also had a huge collection of Loungefly backpacks. I ended up finding a few single issues to purchase. One of the comics that I was going to purchase was an expensive variant. The person who was ringing up my order warned me that the issue I picked was really expensive which I appreciated! It would have been easy for her to let me purchase it without knowing how expensive it was.

Honorary Mention – Newbury Comics

The last store I visited was Newbury Comics in Boston. I wasn’t planning on buying anything else since I bought so many comics, but of course, I ended up finding things. The first thing I stumbled upon was the Critical Role Jester Lavorre action figure. I just started watching The Mighty Nein and I’m slowly getting into the story. Jester is so fun and a fan favorite which I can see why. Jester is still in the box and I’m contemplating where to put her. I think I might put her either on my Table Top Roleplaying shelf or on my desk when I work from home.

In total, I bought six graphic novels, seven single issues, and an action figure. It’s no wonder why my backpack was so heavy. I’m looking to organize what I bought and determine which comics I want to read first.

Heaven on Earth – Traveling to Iceland

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This is the first post in my Europe travel series. I wanted to start off in chronological order as Iceland was the first country that me and my husband traveled to. When me and my husband started planning this trip, Iceland wasn’t a country that was on our radar. However, when we began researching flights, we saw that we could take a direct flight from the Twin Cities to Iceland which helped solidify our decision to fly to Iceland first.

This is a photo from Iceland. It shows a gray, yellow, and blue colored sky. Beneath the sky, there is gray rock covered in this bright green, yellow, and deep green grass.

One of the first impressions that I had of Iceland was that it felt like we were on a different planet. Iceland is a beautiful country. As we were traveling to Reykjavík, the scenery was exquisite. There was black lava rock and green and yellow rolling hills. Reykjavík is a gorgeous city surrounded by water and mountains. I’m reviewing all the pictures I took and they don’t do the city justice.

Photo is a selfie of me and my husband. We look a little tired. Behind us is the Rainbow Road. The Road has stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple paint. Behind us is a big chuch in the distance. There are several shops on either side of the road.

On the first day we spent in Reykjavík, we did most of the touristy stuff including Rainbow Road, Hallgrímskirkja (a Lutheran Church), and shopping downtown. We ate a lot of waffles, drank a lot of coffee, and had to stay awake for 18+ hours due to the time zone difference. The jet lag hit both of us hard.

Photo is a distant view of several mountains. The clouds look like they are laying on top of the mountains. There is a body of water that separates the mountains from where we were standing

On the second and final day in Iceland, we went to The Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal hot spring, spa, and hotel resort. This was another touristy thing to do, but so worth it. It’s about 30-40 minutes outside of Reykjavík, so not too far out of the way. As we arrived, there was a pathway that led to the entrance which again was surrounded by this black lava rock. The water at The Blue Lagoon was a bright blue color which seems so unnatural, yet beautiful. We made a reservation ahead of time, so we were able to quickly check-in and proceed to the springs. It was 50 degrees out, so pretty chilly, but the water was warm. We spent a few hours at the hot springs before navigating back to our hotel.

This is a photo of me in a body of water. The water is a bright perwinkle blue. There are black rocks behind me stained with white patches
Photo is of me standing in the walkway to The Blue Lagoon. There is a gray brick pathway. On either side are these black and white lava rocks.

We spent two full days in Iceland which I felt was a good amount of time. If I were to revisit Iceland, I’d love to rent a car and drive around the country. I’m sure there was a lot that me and my husband missed out on since we could only do so much. From Iceland, we flew to London, and that’s what I will talk about in my next travel post.

Controllers & Coffee: Spider-Man and Eldraine

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Now that I’m getting back to my routine, I have been getting back into gaming regularly. I have a lot of options as far as what to play next. With the weather slowly getting cooler, I’m ready to get cozy under a blanket and play a game. I wanted to share where I’m at and what I plan on playing next.

Consoles

[Image is a video game poster for Marvel's Spider-Man on Playstation. It shows Spider-Man swinging on a web in the air]

The game that I have been playing is Marvel Spider-Man as the second game comes out this month. I am playing on New Game Plus which carries over the previously leveled-up Spider-Man from a previous game. The enemies aren’t that tough, if anything, Spider-Man’s health drops more after every hit, so I have to be more strategic during boss battles. Once I finish the first Spider-Man game, I plan on playing the sequel. I’m looking forward to battling Venom and playing as Miles.

After playing through both Marvel’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, I want to play Jedi: Survivor. I finished Jedi: Fallen Order this year and I loved it I heard the sequel was equally as fun.

Regarding my Switch, I don’t have a specific game that I’m working through, however, I do have some pre-purchased games that I want to get to eventually

PC

I haven’t played a game on PC in a long time. I had to pull up Steam to see what I had in my library. I have three games that I haven’t finished yet and when I look at them, I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to play them. I could see a fresh Steam haul in the future, but since I spent a lot of money to travel to Europe, I need to focus on saving.

Board Games

I have so many new board games thanks to Gen Con. I have Queen By Midnight which is a game from Critical Role’s game company, Darrington Press. I have another game that I want to play called Vagrant Song Me and my brother have been trying to do regular board game days, so I’m hoping that I can play these soon.

Roleplaying

As a nice change of pace, I’m in a new campaign at Bad Wolf Adventure Studios. Instead of playing on Thursday, I’m playing on Mondays. I prefer playing on Mondays versus Thursdays. Playing DnD on Mondays gives me something to look forward to. By the time Thursday comes around, I’m usually tired from the work week, so I found it difficult at times to fully be invested in the campaign. I’m playing a human sorcerer in this campaign which has been interesting to manage since my character is more focused on spell casting versus being in physical combat.

Miscellaneous

I have been playing more Magic: The Gathering than I have in the past. Part of this has to do with the release of Wilds of Eldraine which is the fairy tale-themed set. I loved Throne of Eldraine, so I was happy to see that Magic was willing to go back to that set. I have six boosters waiting for me to open on Arena, so I could see myself trying to build a standard deck and playing on Arena, so I can fully enjoy the set.

It feels so nice to be able to unwind and play video games. I have a good plan in front of me and I cannot wait to play Spider-Man 2. I have been looking forward to this game for five years.

Science, Victorian Mysteries, and Fairies – Books I Read in Europe

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When I travel, I always look forward to reading. I pack my Kindle and pre-download several books to keep me occupied especially when waiting around in an airport. During my two-week trip to Europe, I read three books. It helps that our trip had five different flights, so lots of downtime to read books. I wanted to share the three books that I read along with my thoughts on each book.

Love, Theoretically – Ali Hazelwood

[Image is a book cover. It says Love, Theoretically on the cover. It shows a woman and a man kissing. The man has an O-Chem tattoo on his forearm.]

Elsie Hannaway is an adjunct professor, racing around different campuses to teach her classes. To supplement her income, she’s a “fake girlfriend” on a dating website. She attends one of her client’s family gatherings and runs into Jack Smith, the brother of her client. Jack wrote a scientific paper discrediting Elsie’s field of study, so it’s safe to say that she hates him. Elsie is trying to get a job at MIT and guess who’s on the hiring board? Jack Smith. Elsie has to interact with Jack throughout the MIT hiring process and it’s clear that Jack may be a lot of things, maybe Elsie misjudged his original intentions.

I can’t objectively review any of Ali Hazelwood’s books because I love them so much. I love reading about academia and the science that each book focuses on. I will say that Ali Hazelwood has a pattern and I would love to see her deviate from that pattern. I want to see a new type of protagonist. How about a chemist who owns a brewery and doesn’t have rock-hard abs. I rated Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood five stars on Goodreads.

A Curious Beginning – Deanna Raybourn

[Image is a book cover. It's a blue cover with green vines and pink butterflies on the vines. There's a white globe that features a government building and a woman holding a butterfly net at the bottom right corner]

Veronica Speedwell is free to do as she pleases. After planning her aunt’s funeral, she is planning her next move. When she returns home, she catches someone robbing her house. After fleeing from this person, she meets a German Baron who convinces Veronica that she’s in danger. The Baron leaves Veronica with his friend, Mr. Stoker. Before the Baron can collect Veronica, he’s murdered. Stoker instantly realizes the danger of the situation and takes Veronica away into hiding. Veronica and Stoker are forced to work together to figure out who killed the Baron.

This was the perfect book to bring with me while in Europe. I loved the setting in London. Veronica is a character who honestly doesn’t care what other people think of her which is especially important since the book is set in 1887 and women at that time were expected to be married. I liked her partnership with Stoker. Stoker carries a lot of anger and trauma with him and Veronica starts to grow on him throughout the book. I rated A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn four stars on Goodreads.

A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J. Maas

[Image is a book cover. The book cover says "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas. It shows a dragon with an arrow sticking out of it.]


Feyre is hunting in the Forest to feed her family when she kills a wolf that approaches her. As it turns out, the wolf that Feyre killed was really a Faerie, and killing Faeries is strictly forbidden. Feyre is found out and is taken by Tamlin, one of the Faerie high lords, to his kingdom where she will live for the rest of her days. Feyre is taken back by Prythian but starts to enjoy her routine. As she learns more about Prythian, she sees that there’s a dark underbelly to the land. Something is happening and it could lead to the end of humankind.

This was perhaps the most hyped book on my Goodreads TBR shelf. I have heard nothing, but positive things about this series, so I do feel that I went into reading this book with a more critical lens. With that being said, I liked this book for the most part. I liked Prythian, the world that the Faeries live in. I liked the darker creatures that Feyre hunts or interacts with. The romance between Tamlin and Feyre was okay, I wasn’t entirely sold on it especially when the curse was revealed. One of the things that I didn’t like was the latter half of the book when Feyre is imprisoned by Amarantha. Feyre is tormented and abused and it’s difficult to read. It feels like Sarah J. Maas through a bunch of abuse in there and I don’t think it was entirely needed. I can understand why everyone liked this book and I did like it. I rated A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas three stars on Goodreads.

I haven’t fully decided what I will read next. I have a few options as I’m trying to dwindle my TBR before buying any more books and I have a book on hold at the library. I’m sure it will be something dark and spooky as it’s officially Spooky season.

I went to Europe!!

Posted in Life Lately by

I took a mini writing break, but I’m happy to be back! The reason I wasn’t writing regularly was because I WENT TO EUROPE!!!!! I can’t believe that this trip happened. I had so much fun on this trip as this was me and my husband’s first time in Europe. This trip meant so much to me as it was a dream vacation that I had planned for so many years.

[Image is a selfie of me and my husband. We are both smiling and looking at the camera. We are on an airplane]

Going to Europe was supposed to be me and my husband’s honeymoon trip. We got engaged in 2019 and started wedding planning and then Covid happened. Our wedding was pushed into 2021 and by that time, there were still Covid restrictions where a Covid test was required in the countries we wanted to visit. I didn’t want our vacation to be stalled if one of us got Covid while on our trip. In 2022, we bought our house which led to the general house costs of buying house stuff. When 2023 came around, me and my husband knew that we wanted to make this trip the priority for the year.

We were gone for two weeks and visited three countries: Iceland, England, and Ireland. As we flew home, we had a brief stop in Boston to visit a friend who moved there before finally flying home. I learned so much about myself and how I like to travel from this trip.

I will be back to writing regularly now that I’m home. I’m dedicating one post per country that we visited and I will share plenty of pictures. Europe was amazing and I can’t wait to do more international travel in the future.

Wilds of Eldraine MtG Pre-Release

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The most recent time that I talked about Magic: The Gathering was when I talked about playing Magic at Gen Con. I don’t typically play Magic much anymore. Part of it has to do with not having enough time to play. Another reason is because of not having a lot of friends who play Magic. The other reason I don’t play Magic much is that it’s really difficult to keep up with the sets. Magic releases new sets all the time and if I find I’m interested in a set, in a month or two, the set is old and no one wants to play it. With all of that being said, Magic’s most recent set is Wilds of Eldraine which is a sequel to Throne of Eldraine, a set that was released in 2019. I played Throne of Eldraine a lot and it’s a set that I really enjoy. I ended up buying two pre-release kits and playing them with my brother and I had a blast! Wilds of Eldraine is going to be a really neat set.

[Image is a pre-release kit. It says Magic the Gathering Wilds of Eldraine. The background is a purple fantasy forest with several white ethereal fairies flying around]

Pre-releases are Magic events where you can play a set early. Each pre-release kit has a promo card, a d20 dice, and several booster packs. From there, the goal is to build a forty-card deck and play your opponent. I have played in pre-releases at game stores before and honestly, I don’t think I’m going to do this again. The events are timed, and I like being able to read each card and take my time putting together a deck. As a casual player, I like to ask questions and have a friend review my deck as I’m not that great at deck building. I don’t want to be rushed for time. Additionally, I have had negative experiences at game stores whether it be the people that I’m playing or feeling guilty for not winning a game or a match. I like to play the game for fun and see how each card works together, but I feel punished in a way because it’s recorded how each player does in each game.

Playing with my brother was way more fun than playing in a pre-release. We would show off which cards we got and trade if needed. I had my brother review my deck where he would offer suggestions of last-minute card switches. Finally, we would disregard the mulligan rules and let each person have the perfect opening hand. Mulligans are where you can discard your hand if you don’t like it, but if you do, you draw one less card. It feels bad when you have to mulligan a lot and then you have fewer cards in hand.

[Image shows two Magic Cards side by side. The first one says "Totentanz, Swarm Piper" and it's a Legendary Creature - Human Warlock Bard. Whenever Totenaz Swarm Piper or another creature you control dies, create a 1/1 rat creature token. The second Magic card is "Ratcatcher Trainee" and it's a Creature - Human Peasant. The card says "As long as it's your turn, Ratcatcher Trainee has first strike"]

While I did not win a single game, I liked the deck that I built! I built a red/black rats deck. I pulled a few cards including Totentanz, Swarm Piper. Totentanz‘s ability is whenever a creature dies, you create a rat. By paying one and a black, you can create deathtouch for all your rats which is awesome. I also pulled Ratcatcher Trainee which has first strike as long as it was your turn. I had my army of rats to try and take on my brother. Each game that we played was so close! I had my brother in the single digits as far as his life total, although my brother squeaked out every time.

It was fun to play a pre-release kit since it’s been a long time. I think my brother had fun since he texted me asking if he should pay me back for the next kit, so maybe this will be my re-entry into Magic.

Kindle Books – TBR

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I have two Kindles. One is my mom’s older version which she didn’t use anymore, so she gave it to me. The other is my husband’s and he gave it to me because he wasn’t using it. In general, I do prefer reading a physical book versus a Kindle, however, whenever I travel, I always bring my Kindle. I hate carrying around a book that I already finished and a Kindle is perfect to take on a flight. I recently turned on Kindle and wanted to share a few books that I have yet to read on my Kindle.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

[Image is a half figure of a woman. She's wearing a gothic black dress with feathers and scales. She has tattoos on her arm. The book cover says "She Stole a Life Now She Must Pay With Her Heart". The background is a solid red background]

I feel like the book community is going to come for me when I say that I have never read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I hear nothing but good things about this book series. This is probably going to be my top priority read for the books that I have on my Kindle.

I don’t know much about this book, but the protagonist, Feyre, kills someone and then is transported to a magical world. This seems like an interesting premise.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

[Image is an orange background with bookshelves and lab equipment. Two people are kissing. One person has an Organic chemistry tattoo on his forearm]

I love Ali Hazelwood. I love that her books are romances with different protagonists in different scientific fields. I feel like Ali Hazelwood has gotten criticism because her books are very similar, yet here I am buying every single book. I do hope that this book feels different enough from The Love Hypothesis.

Elsie Hannaway is a theoretical physicist. She works as a professor and also is a “Fake Girlfriend” where she pretends to be someone’s partner at weddings, dates, etc. She ends up running into Jack Smith, the older brother of a client of hers. Jack sits on the hiring committee at MIT which is where Elsie wants to apply for a job. Jack also may have ruined her mentor’s career. Elsie and Jack are forced to work together and find that maybe they were both wrong about each other.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

[Image is a book cover. It shows a lot of whimsical flowers. There's a crystal ball with a castle. At the bottom right there is a woman in a Victorian dress holding a butterfly net. The book is called A Curious Beginning A Veronica Speedwell Mystery]

One of the book bloggers I follow loves this series. Our reading tastes are very similar, so if she loves it, chances are I will too.

Veronica Speedwell is ambitious as she is planning on traveling around Europe. She is almost kidnapped and then saved by a German baron. The baron offers her shelter and mentions how he may know more about where Veronica came from. Unfortunately, the baron is murdered and Veronica teams up with Stoker, a historian and friend of the baron. Together, they must work together to figure out who killed the baron.

Easy Bake Coven by Liz Schulte

[Image features an animated woman with a red dress. She is performing spells that are shown as purple and green magical strings. The title says Easy Bake Coven.]

With September quickly approaching, I want to add as many Spooky-themed books to read.

Selene Warren is a witch but doesn’t take herself too seriously. That is until her grandmother is viciously attacked. Selene needs to grow up and figure out who attacked her grandmother.

I’m excited to start going through all the books on my Kindle. The one good thing about eBooks is that they don’t take up space on my already overcrowded book shelf.